Treatment of AMD involves slowing vision loss and halting any further damage; some medications may even help restore lost sight.

Dry AMD occurs when light-sensing cells in the macula gradually degenerate, leading to blurry central vision.

Wet macular degeneration occurs when abnormal new blood vessels form beneath the retina and leak fluid into its structure, causing straight lines to appear crookedly. Symptoms may include appearances of new, bulging vessels under the retina.

Injections

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is an insidious, painless disease that gradually weakens central vision – the part that allows you to read, drive, recognize faces and colors, work on computers etc – without treatment resulting in permanent blindness. AMD most commonly affects adults aged 60 or above although people of any age can be susceptible.

Dry macular degeneration (DMD), the most frequent form of AMD, causes blurry vision as light-sensing cells in the macula break down and begin to change shape over time. It usually affects both eyes and early symptoms include straight lines becoming crooked or blurry and dark or empty spots appearing at the center of vision.

Wet AMD is a more severe form of AMD which arises when abnormal blood vessels form beneath the retina and leak fluid or bleed, creating scar tissue underneath. Treatment for wet AMD involves injecting medications directly into your eye every four weeks such as bevacizumab, ranibizumab, pegaptanib or Aflibercept in order to stop their growth and stop any leakage of fluid or bleeding that results.

These drugs work by blocking the molecule vascular endothelial growth factor, which encourages abnormal blood vessel growth in wet AMD. Other treatments include photodynamic therapy; this involves injecting a drug that travels throughout the body before attaching itself to new blood vessels in the eye before being activated by laser light to kill them and slow vision loss.

Your doctor will assess your eye health and suggest the best course of treatment. He or she may recommend you take certain vitamins and minerals, and follow a well-balanced diet. They’ll also conduct eye tests such as Amsler grid for central vision screening and optical coherence tomography (OCT), which provides detailed cross-sectional images of retina that allow doctors to detect early signs of AMD; these tests can also determine when you require injections of anti-VEGF medication.

Laser Surgery

Laser photocoagulation is a treatment procedure to correct abnormal blood vessels that lead to wet macular degeneration. Your eye care provider will administer anesthetic eye drops in order to numb your eyes before placing a special type of contact lens in each eye that focuses a laser beam onto your retina and burn away small areas where abnormal blood vessels have grown, thus slowing down damage to central vision and potentially slowing further loss. However, scar tissue formation could still result in blind spots as a side effect but this might still prove preferable than losing central vision without treatment.

Your eye doctor will assess the severity of your symptoms before suggesting treatment options that would best address them. In cases of wet AMD, treatment must be pursued immediately if any symptoms appear such as severe central vision blurriness, dark spots in your field of vision or sudden loss of fine detail vision. Your eye doctor can then help select an effective course of action.

Wet macular degeneration occurs when blood vessels form under the retina and leak fluid, resulting in severe vision loss. Treatment options for wet AMD include laser surgery or injecting anti-angiogenesis drugs directly into the eye to restrict growth of new blood vessels. Adeno-associated virus (AAV), an experimental gene therapy approach currently undergoing trials, may also offer benefits.

At present, there is no cure for dry macular degeneration; however, high doses of antioxidant vitamins and cessation of smoking may reduce further vision loss. Individuals living with this form should undergo frequent evaluations, learning how to recognize changes in their vision quickly so they can schedule appointments with an eye doctor immediately if any arise.

Customers considering laser surgery for treating their condition must agree to follow all post-op instructions, including placing eye drops daily and attending follow-up appointments. Furthermore, any health conditions or medications which could interfere with its safety and effectiveness must also be cleared up beforehand.

Fluorescein Angiography

An angiogram is a photographic test that enables your doctor to visualize the blood vessels at the back of your eye, providing important insight into diagnosis, treatment and creating an archive of retinal circulation patterns. Diabetics, macular degeneration sufferers and those suffering from other vascular and inflammatory eye conditions can use OCT scans to accurately diagnose and treat these conditions. Fluorescein angiography involves injecting fluorescent dye into your arm, and having it travel through your blood vessels before reaching the back of your eyes within about 30-40 seconds. Your doctor will then take photographs as the dye traverses both systemic and ocular circulation systems – this enables them to identify abnormal growth, blockage or leakage of vessels as well as pinpoint areas that would benefit most from laser treatment.

Patient KO, aged 45 years, presented with progressive blurring vision in her left eye and extensive drusen accumulation in both eyes, as well as history of wet age-related macular degeneration (exudative ARMD). She was also experiencing headaches, vertigo, worsening confusion, personality/behavioral changes and sensorineural hearing loss in that same ear. Brain MRI tests were negative for tumors but showed white matter lesions involving corpus callosum and cerebellar areas along with scattered leptomeningeal enhancement.

Her exam and MRI both confirmed her diagnosis of wet AMD. Ocular examination showed leaking new blood vessels under her macula as well as severe retinal edema. She was then referred for fluorescein angiography which confirmed these symptoms as well as showing hyperfluorescence of her retinal arteriole walls; these symptoms confirmed wet ARMD as her disease state and allowed for appropriate treatment using VEGF inhibitors.

This patient received ranibizumab (Lucentis(r)) injections into her left eye followed by laser photocoagulation of its target area. Follow-up exams revealed that all leaking vessels remained closed, with no further decrease in central vision.

Optical Coherence Tomography

OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) utilizes light waves to take cross-section images of your retina using cross-section photography. An OCT scan allows your ophthalmologist to see each layer of tissue within your eye, helping him or her diagnose conditions such as glaucoma, macular hole and wet age-related macular degeneration more effectively. Furthermore, OCT allows us to monitor these conditions by comparing new scans with older scans that detect subtle changes in tissue structure that would otherwise go undetected.

The Lee Lab is expanding optical coherence tomography imaging technology beyond its traditional use for creating qualitative 3D images of microtissues. Now it can perform quantitative imaging and assessment of multiple dynamic processes occurring within living microtissues – like blood flow and oxygen supply to retina cells – without adding fluorescent dyes which damage cells and compromise accurate analysis. This type of imaging may prove transformational in looking at diseased tissues and treating them more effectively.

OCT, or optical coherence tomography, has become an established diagnostic tool in the treatment of macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It serves as primary diagnosis, evaluation of therapeutic efficacy and long-term monitoring. At Lee Lab we are expanding the capabilities of OCT by using structured illumination methods which measure molecular properties of living microtissues; this approach also permits development of novel optical biosensors with clinical applications.

OCT angiography can be an invaluable tool for assessing choroidal neovascularization in wet AMD and directing treatment, but it’s essential to remember that fluid doesn’t always indicate neovascular activity; care must also be taken when evaluating non-neovascular AMD that presents with fluid as it could help guide therapy that is tailored specifically for that condition and minimize its burden on patients, providers and the health-care system.

OCT provides a more precise view of eye structures than other diagnostic tools, including fluorescein angiography. Its high-resolution images can detect fluid or abnormal blood vessels that could indicate wet macular degeneration; additionally, OCT can identify dry AMD deposits known as drusen and help determine their treatment using anti-VEGF therapy.