Background: In the year 2000, the photodynamic therapy (PDT) was introduced as a new option for the treatment of exudative choroidal neovascularisation (CNV). Since this kind of therapy required the health insurance company's consent, the waiting period for the first therapy varied considerably.
Materials and methods: Between July 2000 and September 2004, 133 eyes were treated via PDT. In this study, 59 courses were analysed retrospectively, all of them within the frame of a classic or predominantly classic exudative CNV.
Results: At the time of indication for the therapy, 38.46 % of the eyes of patients under the age of 65 and 73.91 % of the eyes of patients over the age of 65 showed a visual acuity (VA) of less than 0.3. Nine eyes lost the VA needed to drive a car (> or = 0.6), eight eyes lost the reading ability (< 0.4) before the first PDT. One eye lost its reading ability, one eye reached the classification of "visually handicapped & blindness" (< or = 0.3) and one eye went blind (< or = 0.02) within 7 days of waiting time.
Conclusion: Elderly people showed less VA at first investigations by ophthalmologists, which underscores the necessity of an intensive campaign about the classic symptoms of AMD. The results of this study confirm that loss of VA can be caused by CNV progression within seven days. Whether or not rapid treatment with PDT influences the visual and morphological outcome, has to be proven by more extensive studies.