Age related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is a common, chronic, progressive degenerative disorder of the macula that affects older individuals and features loss of central vision as a result of abnormalities in the photoreceptor/retinal pigment epithelium/Bruch’s membrane/choroidal complex often resulting in geographic atrophy and/or neovascularization.
In this article:
Age related macular degeneration treatment
There are currently no treatments for dry AMD. However, there are some options from wet AMD. The options for wet AMD include eye injections and light therapy. Low vision aids can also be used to enlarge images of nearby objects. Lastly, surgical removal of abnormal blood vessels in the eye can be done as a last resort when all other methods have failed.
Eye injections
Your eye may be injected with medicine that will prevent blood vessel growth. The medicine is anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VGEF). Although this treatment is not a cure for AMD, it can slow the progression of wet AMD. This treatment may also block the leaking of the abnormal blood vessels.
Medical treatment of neovascular AMD experienced a significant advance due to the introduction of vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors (anti-VEGF), which dramatically changed the prognosis of the disease. However, although anti-VEGF therapy has become the standard treatment for neovascular AMD, many patients do not respond adequately to this therapy or experience a slow loss of efficacy of anti-VEGF agents after repeated administration.
Additionally, current treatment with intravitreal anti-VEGF agents is associated with a significant treatment burden for patients, caregivers, and physicians. New approaches have been proposed for treating neovascular AMD. Among them, designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins) seem to be as effective as monthly ranibizumab, but with greater durability, which may enhance patient compliance with needed injections.
Light treatment
Although this treatment is used less likely these days, laser treatment and photodynamic therapy has been used to destroy current blood vessels in the eyes with laser beams. These treatments have proven not as effective as eye injections, and also have many more side effects. Therefore, the preferred treatment is with anti-VGEF. In rare circumstances of no response to the following therapy, abnormal blood vessels of the eyes can be surgically removed.
