• Treatment
• Visudyne ®
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• Pharmacokinetics
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• Patient Information
• References

Patient information

Photosensitivity

Patients are advised to avoid exposure of unprotected skin or eyes to direct sunlight or bright indoor light, especially halogen lighting, for 48 hours after treatment. This includes, but is not limited to:

• tanning salons
• bright halogen lighting in homes and offices
• high-power lighting used in dentists’ offices and surgical operating rooms

Patients can be reassured that watching television will not cause photosensitivity reactions. Exposure to low levels of normal indoor light should be encouraged because this will help inactivate the drug in the skin through photobleaching.

Routine visits for dental or elective surgery should be rescheduled, because powerful operating lights may cause tissue necrosis. Patients are recommended to carry a treatment card and/or wear a wrist band indicating their potential photosensitivity in the event of emergency surgery during the first 48 hours after Visudyne^® therapy. Accidents entailing hospitalization must be handled with extreme care and under low lighting conditions. All parts of the body not involved in the surgery should be covered and the procedure kept as short as possible.

Visudyne^® therapy is contraindicated in patients with porphyria, in patients with known hypersensitivity to verteporfin or any other component of the lipid-based formulation, and in patients with severe hepatic impairment.

Caution should be used in treating patients with uncontrolled hypertension, unstable cardiovascular disease, active hepatitis, or moderate to severe liver disease as there is no clinical experience of Visudyne^® therapy in patients with these conditions. Advanced cataracts and retinal tears should be treated before initiation of Visudyne^® therapy.

Concomitant medications that might compromise liver function or share hepatic catabolism should be noted, as well as any compounds that might enhance or quench photosensitivity. While such drugs do not contraindicate Visudyne^® therapy, they may prolong systemic photosensitivity after treatment.

Overdose of drug and/or light in the treated eye may result in nonperfusion of normal retinal vessels with the possibility of a severe decrease in vision that could be permanent. An overdose of Visudyne^® will also result in the prolongation of the period during which the patient remains photosensitive to bright light. In such cases, it is recommended that the photosensitivity precautions are extended for a time proportional to the overdose.

Following Visudyne^® therapy, patients may develop transient vision disorders such as abnormal vision, vision deterioration, or visual-field defects that may impair their ability to drive motor vehicles or operate machinery. Patients in whom such symptoms appear should therefore not drive or operate machinery for as long as these symptoms persist.

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