PURPOSE: We aimed to evaluate the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on different phenotypes of age-related macular degenerations (AMD): typical AMD (tAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). PROCEDURES: 246 eyes from 242 patients (tAMD: 139, PCV: 107 eyes) were recruited. Gender, age, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before treatment, greatest linear dimension before treatment, lesion phenotype and PDT frequency were evaluated for predicting the BCVA at 12 months after PDT using stepwise multiple regression analyses. Additionally, 125 eyes with tAMD and 97 eyes with PCV followed up for more than 12 months after the final PDT were compared for the recurrence period. RESULTS: In the stepwise analysis, a younger age, better pretreatment BCVA, lower PDT frequency, lesions with PCV and a smaller pretreatment greatest linear dimension were all significantly beneficial for a better BCVA at 12 months after PDT. PCV showed a significantly lower PDT frequency and greater improvement in the BCVA than tAMD. The recurrence period of PCV was significantly later than that of tAMD. CONCLUSIONS: The phenotype of AMD is significantly correlated with its prognosis after PDT. PCV showed a significantly better response to PDT in terms of BCVA improvement and effect durability.