Photodynamic therapy procedures in coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: perception of health risks among clinical dental faculty and dental students.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate clinical faculty members and final year dentistry students' perceptions regarding their health concerns and risks of performing photodynamic therapy (PDT) procedure in dental clinics amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A 21-item questionnaire comprising open and closed questions was sent to dental faculty members (n=43) and final year dentistry students (n=99) of Riyadh Elm University during mid-January 2021 that ended only after two weeks. The survey included health risks perception of performing PDT procedures, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on PDT performance and stress levels, perceived efficacy of the preventive steps, perception of the effect of the probable suspension of PDT procedure in dental clinics, and influence of alternative teaching methods of PDT procedure on clinical competence were reported. RESULTS: A response rate of 82% for faculty members (n=35) and 75% for students (n=74) was recorded. 91% of faculty members and 95% of students felt that their health was not at risk during performing PDT procedure in dental clinics amidst the COVID-19. 82% of faculty and 83% of students expressed that the PPE and universal preventive steps to perform PDT procedure were enough for preventing the cross-infection with the virus. 89% of faculty members and 91% of students thought that a provisional suspension of PDT procedures in dental clinics would assist in containment of the virus and reduce the infection risk from the contact and not the PDT procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Students and faculty members reported that their health is not at risk while performing PDT procedure in dental clinics amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

Surgery combined with photodynamic therapy for the treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A report of 7 cases.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease in the area of the apocrine sweat glands. The treatment of HS is relatively difficult. Therefore, surgery combined with PDT was applied to treat 7 cases of patients in this study, and treatment efficacy was observed. Simple surgical incisions and drainage were performed for patients with Hurley grade I. Surgical incisions and drainage as well as the removal of necrotic tissues were performed for patients with grades II and III. Immediately after surgery, PDT was performed. Their average Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was 24.14±4.26 before the surgery and 4.86±2.79 5 months after treatment, respectively. Scale (VSS) scores for evaluating scar formation were low to moderate after surgery and PDT. The experience of treating these 7 patients suggests that surgery combined with PDT might have a more pronounced effect, with the possible advantages of faster healing and less scarring.

Patients' experiences of pain and pain relief during photodynamic therapy on actinic keratoses: an interview study.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-known, effective method for treating extensive areas of multiple actinic keratoses in the face and scalp. The main side-effect of PDT is the pain experienced during treatment. The objective of this study was to explore and describe patients' experiences of PDT. The study used individual interviews, and analysis was carried out using phenomenography. The patients had all been treated with PDT for actinic keratoses on the face and scalp, and experienced PDT with and without nerve blocks. The results are presented in 3 themes and 10 categories. Most patients reported that the nerve blocks given prior to PDT altered their experience of pain. Alternative options are needed to reduce pain during PDT based on patients' needs and body site. This study adds a patient perspective highlight-ing patients' own voices as a qualitative complement to statistical analysis using the visual analogue scale.

[Quality of life in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration treated with photodynamic therapy]. / Apport de la photothérapie dynamique dans la qualité de vie des patients atteints de dégénérescence maculaire exsudative.

PURPOSE: To analyze the benefit of photodynamic therapy in terms of quality of life in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 33 patients with subretinal neovascularization receiving visual rehabilitation in a low vision clinic (ARAMAV, Nîmes) in southern France. Twenty had been treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT group) and 13 had not (non-PDT group). In the non-PDT group, the patients had been treated with thermal photocoagulation, transpupillary thermotherapy, or external radiotherapy, or had not received any treatment. Visual acuity, reading speed, reading endurance, and quality of life were compared. Two quality-of-life scales were employed: the VF-14 and NEI-VFQ-25. RESULTS: A significant difference between the two groups in terms of quality of life was observed. The VF-14 score (p<0.01) and two parameters (near activities and distant activities) of the NEI VFQ-25 were significantly higher (both p<0.01) in the PDT group. Visual acuity, reading speed, and reading endurance were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: Although no difference in terms of functional parameters was observed, photodynamic therapy could preserve the central retina and thus enable a better use of the residual visual function, which could explain the better quality of life perceived by the patients in the PDT group.

[Visual acuity, quality of life, and patient satisfaction after PDT treatment in AMD patients]. / Visusverlauf, Lebensqualität und subjektive Zufriedenheit von AMD-Patienten nach Abschluss einer PDT-Behandlung.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of PDT to prevent the progression of AMD has been established. This study now assesses the patients' quality of life and self-reported satisfaction after PDT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients who underwent PDT during 2000 and 2001 at the University Eye Hospital of Mainz were interviewed using an AMD-specific modification of a standardized 82-item questionnaire on quality of life and satisfaction in ophthalmological patients. Different aspects of those parameters were derived as scores, which were then related to clinical outcome parameters. RESULTS: During the period of PDT treatment, the median decrease in visual acuity was three stages in the patients examined. Patients who reported a subjective increase in visual function during this period showed for example a median "private flexibility" score of 1.86, and patients with the subjective impression of a decrease in visual function a median score of 2.71. CONCLUSION: The established clinical efficacy of PDT treatment to prevent AMD progression coincides with an encouraging patient satisfaction after the treatment.

Psychosocial implications of clinical trials on patients with age-related macular degeneration and pathologic myopia as seen in the photodynamic therapy trials.

Photodynamic therapy is a combination of the systemically injected photosensitizing drug, verteporfin, and the subsequent exposure of the affected retina to a low-beam diode laser. Eligible participants in the photodynamic therapy clinical trial were those with "wet" cases of age-related macular degeneration with subfoveal, predominantly classic lesions. The expected outcome of the treatment is to preserve vision, not to restore lost vision. Study participants are frustrated in their performance of daily activities and often have unrealistic expectations of photodynamic therapy treatment outcomes (eg, improved vision). Frustration and fear are evident at visits during which their actual vision loss is measured. One of our goals is to help the patients have realistic expectations of treatment outcomes.

Photodynamic therapy: the nurse's role.

Patients with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in persons older than 50 years in developed countries, experience severe visual loss due to choroidal neovascularization, the growth of abnormal vessels under the retina. Photodynamic therapy is a new treatment modality that combines an intravenous injection of a photosensitizing drug, such as verteporfin, and nonthermal laser light application, which destroys choroidal neovascularization without damaging normal surrounding tissue. It has led to new challenges for nurses working in the ambulatory laser setting, including medication preparation, drug administration, and education regarding precautions and potential systemic side effects of photodynamic therapy.