Laser therapy may restore lost vision in certain cases of wet macular degeneration. By sealing leaky blood vessels that cause bleeding and fluid leakage within the retina, laser treatment can help repair vision loss in some instances.

UW researchers are testing various treatments for AMD, such as phototherapy and medications such as Macugen. These therapies may help slow macular degeneration progression and maintain vision longer.

What is Macular Degeneration?

Macular degeneration is a progressive deterioration of the macula in your retina, responsible for straight ahead vision. When working correctly, this part of the eye allows you to see details more clearly as well as read, drive, and perform other daily activities with ease. Over time, this area becomes damaged to such an extent that straight lines become wavy or colors seem pale due to macular dysfunction; your brain fills in any missing information by creating distortions, making it more difficult to see straight-ahead.

Macular degeneration comes in two forms, dry and wet. Most people suffer from dry macular degeneration, which leads to gradual central vision loss as the macula disintegrates over time. Wet macular degeneration, however, occurs less commonly but results in faster and more severe vision loss; abnormal blood vessels grow under your retina releasing fluid into it that causes vision to gradually worsen over time.

If you have wet macular degeneration, laser photocoagulation treatment may be recommended by your doctor to stop abnormal blood vessel growth and protect further vision loss. While laser photocoagulation cannot restore lost vision, it does seal leaky vessels while stopping new ones from forming in half of all wet AMD cases and stops future vision loss from further progression.

Laser photocoagulation involves shining a high-energy beam of light into your eye to heat and destroy cells causing abnormal blood vessel growth and leaks in the retina. Your doctor will use drops to enlarge your pupil before placing a contact lens over your eye to focus the light onto your retina; an eye care provider then uses laser therapy to target any spots where leakage exists in your retina.

Contrary to its wet counterpart, dry macular degeneration cannot be treated directly; however, you can take measures to slow its progression, such as eating healthily, exercising regularly, not smoking and receiving regular eye exams from our optometrist at Dr. Richlin OD & Associates who will utilize the latest technology to detect macular degeneration early so you can take steps before it worsens your vision.

Laser Treatment

Photodynamic therapy may offer relief for wet macular degeneration. This procedure uses laser light to seal leaky blood vessels under the retina to help prevent further vision loss. After injection of light-sensitive medicine into your arm vein, this travels through your bloodstream into eye blood vessels where it pools; low power laser light then targets these pooled vessels where light-activated medicines react; light destroys abnormal vessels while body absorbs any leakages through natural means.

In wet macular degeneration, abnormal blood vessels form beneath the retina in the central macula area of an eye and leak blood and fluid into its center macula area, leading to bleeding or leakage, leading to blurred or distorted vision that worsens over time. It can even result in rapid loss of central vision.

Laser photocoagulation uses painless laser light to destroy abnormal blood vessels in some wet macular degeneration cases, helping slow its progression and potentially improve vision in some individuals. Although it cannot restore central vision lost to macular degeneration, laser photocoagulation may slow it down or even reverse it, sometimes even improving sight for some patients.

LUCENTIS is a promising new drug that works by binding to abnormal blood vessel growth factors that cause wet macular degeneration, stabilizing eyes in most patients while offering vision improvement in about 40%. This treatment shows promise in restoring lost vision due to wet macular degeneration; further research is ongoing into finding more effective remedies.

Macular degeneration risk can be reduced through eating healthily, exercising regularly, avoiding smoking and using UV-protective sunglasses. Regular eye exams for people over 60 are also essential; your eye care professional can examine your eyes through dilatation of pupils to look for signs of macular degeneration or other eye diseases; in addition, an Amsler grid can be used at home to monitor changes to central vision.

Your UW Medicine ophthalmologist may suggest taking vitamin supplements such as the AREDS formula and other preventative measures in order to slow the progression of macular degeneration. They can also refer you to specialists in macular degeneration who may provide additional treatment options.

Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy, more commonly known by its acronym PDT, has proven itself an effective means to slowing vision loss and sometimes improving it for people living with wet macular degeneration. PDT utilizes a photosensitizing agent followed by laser light that targets cancerous cells to destroy them and bring lasting relief to patients suffering from wet macular degeneration.

Patients suffering from wet macular degeneration will undergo several tests to ascertain if they qualify as candidates for photodynamic therapy. The first step should be an eye exam to detect changes to the macula, such as straight lines becoming less sharp or appearing crooked or appearing less straight; an Amsler Grid test can be used to detect distortions in straight line patterns; an ophthalmologist may additionally request an ocular angiogram which uses orange-red dye to highlight blood vessels within their retinas.

If it has been determined that photodynamic therapy is suitable, the next step will involve a pretreatment procedure. This may involve injecting or applying eye drops containing drugs known as pharmacologic sensitizers such as ursodeoxycholic acid or verteporfin which activate the photosensitizing agent temporarily – this usually lasts only hours in your eyes before its effect wears off.

Once the pharmacologic sensitizer has taken effect for several hours, laser treatment will commence. A high energy beam of laser light is directed to where leaky blood vessels exist; it destroys them while stopping further vision loss; however, in doing so it could also damage healthy tissue or impair some vision.

After treatment, your eyes will become sensitive to light and you should wear sunglasses for several days following each PDT treatment. Most patients require up to five treatments with intervals between two to five weeks apart – and results of verteporfin PDT proved significantly lower rates of progression of wet macular degeneration than control groups in the TREAT trial.

MACUGEN

Age Related Macular Degeneration can occur in 10-20% of cases but often leads to much greater damage, leading to central vision loss and blurriness. It occurs due to abnormal blood vessels developing beneath the retina leaking fluid that distorts and blurs your vision, blurring and distorting it over time.

Laser therapy may be necessary to preserve vision. Furthermore, taking vitamins and antioxidants may help slow the progression of this form of the condition.

Two large clinical trials have recently demonstrated that Macugen can help decrease loss of vision among wet macular degeneration patients, by inhibiting activity of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) which stimulates new blood vessel growth. Macugen is administered via injection into the vitreous cavity of the eye; additional photodynamic laser treatment (PDT) may be recommended.

PDT involves injecting an activated dye into one arm which, when exposed to certain wavelengths of light, is directed towards the retina in the affected eye where it destroys abnormal blood vessels causing wet macular degeneration – all without pain and quickly.

At the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting held in Anaheim, California, results of these studies were presented and demonstrated how an anti-retinal degeneration drug stabilizes vision while slowing visual loss rate for wet macular degeneration patients when used together with PDT therapy – promising results indeed!

Before prescribing medication for wet macular degeneration, your doctor will conduct an intensive eye exam to ascertain your suitability for this therapy. If eligible, specific tests such as fluorescein angiography at Royal Alexandra Hospital will be ordered to confirm diagnosis of wet macular degeneration.

Macugen can cause side effects such as blurred vision, dizziness and nausea; therefore it’s essential that any serious or persistent side effects be reported to your physician immediately. Furthermore, pregnant and breastfeeding women should let their healthcare provider know as this medication could cross into human milk and harm an unborn baby or infant in serious ways.