Prophylactic laser treatment to fellow eyes of unilateral retinal pigment epithelial tears.

PURPOSE

To evaluate prophylactic laser treatment of the macula in reducing the risk of visual loss in the fellow eye of patients with a retinal pigment epithelial tear caused by age-related macular degeneration in the first eye.

METHODS

In a prospective study, 12 patients with a retinal pigment epithelial tear in one eye caused by age-related macular degeneration and drusen in the fellow eye received prophylactic laser treatment of the retina in their fellow eyes and were followed up for 2 years or more after prophylactic treatment.

RESULTS

In 12 fellow eyes that received prophylactic laser treatment, a reduction in best-corrected visual acuity to 20/80 or worse occurred in one (8%) of 12 eyes in the first year and two (18%) of the remaining 11 eyes in the second year after treatment. The cumulative risk of visual loss in the treated fellow eye was 25% in 2 years.

CONCLUSIONS

In historical control subjects in a natural history study of patients with retinal pigment epithelial tear in one eye, central visual loss occurred in 16 (37%) of 43 eyes in the first year and in seven (30%) of 23 eyes in the second year for a cumulative loss of 59% in the first 2 years. Compared with these historical control subjects, our findings suggest that visual loss in the fellow eyes of patients with a retinal pigment epithelial tear in the first eye is reduced by prophylactic low intensity laser photocoagulation of the macula.