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Introduction Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy is characterized by multiple and recurrent serosanguineous detachments of the retinal pigment epithelium and aneurysmal protrusions in the choroidal vessels. Different therapeutic options have been proposed, including anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs and photodynamic therapy. Controversy exists as to whether combination therapy is superior to anti-vascular endothelial factor drugs alone. Methods We searched Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, maintained by screening multiple sources of information, including MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane. We extracted data from the identified reviews, analyzed the data from the primary studies, performed a meta-analysis, and prepared a summary table of the results using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method. Results We identified three systematic reviews that together included twelve primary studies. Of these, two were randomized trials, and only one of them was included in the analysis. Conclusions The addition of photodynamic therapy may result in little or no difference in the incidence of retinal hemorrhage and visual acuity gain at six months (low certainty of evidence). On the other hand, the combination of photodynamic therapy and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drugs compared to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor alone is likely to increase polyp regression at three and six months and reduce central retinal thickness at six months.

Introduction Dry eye is one of the most common ocular surface disorders. Although artificial tear drops therapy is the most widely used treatment, it has recently been suggested that autologous serum could be a beneficial alternative treatment for this disorder, but its use is controversial. Methods We searched in Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach. Results and conclusions We identified six systematic reviews, including seven primary studies overall, of which all were randomized trials. We concluded that autologous serum treatment might not lead to adverse effects compared to artificial teardrops, but the certainty of the evidence is low. On the other hand, we are uncertain whether autologous serum therapy improves the quality of life, severity of the pathology, pain or the corneal epitheliopathy grade compared to artificial tear drops as the certainty of the evidence has been assessed as very low.