Treatment Overview

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). It is not used to treat dry AMD.

Photodynamic therapy may be recommended if you can't have injections of medicines to treat your AMD or if these injections don't work.

In photodynamic therapy, a light-sensitive medicine called verteporfin (Visudyne) is injected into the bloodstream. The medicine collects in the abnormal blood vessels under the macula. Laser light is then shone into the eye, which activates the medicine and causes it to create blood clots that block the abnormal blood vessels. By sealing the leaky blood vessels, photodynamic therapy slows down central vision loss.

Photodynamic therapy takes about 20 minutes and may be done in a doctor's office or eye clinic.