ABSTRACT
Objective To systematically review the efficacy and safety of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and intravitreal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors in the treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV),and to investigate the primary treatment tentatively.Methods A systematic search of Pubmed,Embase,the Cochrane Library and the Wanfang Data was performed to identify all comparative studies that compared the outcomes of PDT alone,intravitreal VEGF inhibitors alone and combined intravitreal VEGF inhibitors and photodynamic therapy.Outcomes of interest included the regression and recurrence rate of polypoidal lesions,best corrected visual acuity (BCVA),central retinal thickness (CRT),therapeutic times,and the occurrence rate of adverse events.2 randomized controlled trials (RCT) and 19 non-RTCs were identified.According to treatment methods,the data extracted was classified to 3 groups,analyzed with odds ratio (OR),weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95％confidence interval (95％CI).Results Meta-analysis suggests that the regression rate of polypoidal lesions (OR=0.34,0.07;95％CI=0.13-0.88,0.02-0.36) and BCVA (WMD=0.25,0.11;95％CI=0.14-0.36,0.01-0.21) in combined therapy group were significantly better than those in PDT group and intravitreal VEGF inhibitors group (P＜0.05).The recurrence rate of polypoidal lesions in PDT group was significantly lower than intravitreal VEGF inhibitors group (OR=0.35,95％CI=0.16-0.74,P=0.006).BCVA (P=0.025) and the occurrence rate of adverse events (OR=60.36,95％CI=6.04-603.50,P=0.000 5) in intravitreal VEGF inhibitors group were significant better than PDT group.Conclusions Combined treatment appeared to be superior to PDT alone or intravitreal VEGF inhibitors alone.Combined treatment takes priority over all others in the primary treatment of PCV.