• This is because most patients have the occult or mixed form (See Definitions) where the doctor cannot see the entire neovascular lesion on the fluorescein angiogram. Laser success is dependent upon the doctor being able to see the entire area of new blood vessel formation, "neovascularization."

• Another problem with laser is that it does not fix the macular problem which caused the new blood vessels to grow in the first place.

• This may be (in part) why most (70%) of laser treated patients develop recurrent or new areas of neovascularization within 5 years.

The Macular Photocoagulation Study (MPS) Showed that if patients are eligible for laser photocoagulation, treatment is better than no treatment. But, both groups of patients lost a significant amount of vision.

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