Treatment Options For Wet Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration can damage the central portion of your vision, leaving you with blurry or missing central vision. But treatment options may slow the loss of vision while helping adjust to changes in your visual field.

Eye care specialists can treat wet macular degeneration with laser light by shining a high-energy beam directly at fragile, leaky blood vessels under your retina. This destroys abnormal vessels and stops fluid leakage but cannot restore lost vision.

Medications

In the wet form of ARMD, abnormal blood vessels grow beneath the retina and leak blood and fluid into the eye, causing macula detachment from its normal position at the back of the eye and potentially leading to serious vision loss if left untreated.

About 10% of those living with ARMD suffer from wet macular degeneration, accounting for 90% of severe vision loss. It develops in much the same way as dry ARMD; however, its progression is much quicker and can quickly result in rapid vision loss. Drusen deposits beneath the retina become larger or increase rapidly in number as new abnormal blood vessels appear and leak blood and fluid into the eye – something which cannot be reversed through drugs, laser treatment or surgery alone.

Treatment for wet AMD includes administering medication that blocks the formation of new blood vessels – commonly referred to as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatments – directly into the eye via regular injections. Anti-VEGF treatments have proven successful in improving vision in approximately 30%-40% of cases of wet AMD. They must be given monthly, through an injection directly into the eye.

Recent research indicates that some patients with wet eye AMD may be able to stop receiving monthly injections without further loss of vision, though more research must be completed to ascertain exactly how many will be safe enough to stop taking their injections altogether.

Medication is currently the go-to treatment for wet eye ARMD, but other forms of therapy are being explored as well. Annual exams, even if your eyes seem healthy, are important so that we can catch early signs of ARMD and begin treatment before it becomes too late. Supplements containing vitamin C, E and zinc have been proven effective at slowing progression – we offer these in our office or you can purchase them over-the-counter.

Laser Treatment

Macular degeneration is a condition in which central vision becomes blurry or distorted, making it hard to read, drive, recognize faces or complete fine-detail tasks like cooking or cleaning. Although macular degeneration often results in total blindness it may still allow individuals to live independently.

Disease of the retina occurs due to damage in the back of the eye. Retinal tissue converts images into electrical impulses for transmission to the brain as signals, and when damaged it cannot reach it and causes central vision to be blurry or distorted – however this damage only affects one area of retina and does not impact peripheral (side) vision.

As the disease advances, deposits called drusen form beneath the retina and can quickly cause central vision loss in wet forms of AMD. Some individuals develop abnormal blood vessels under their retina called “neovascular”, leading to very rapid loss and may never be reversed.

If you suffer from wet macular degeneration, regular visits and testing with your physician and additional diagnostic methods can help slow the progression of the disease. Such testing includes fluorescein angiography – where yellow dye is injected into a vein in your arm and travels through blood vessels into retina – taking photographs along the way; this test shows if any new abnormal blood vessels have appeared beneath retina; additionally your doctor can use optical coherence tomography (OCT), which provides detailed images of retina and macula.

Laser treatment can help treat wet macular degeneration by targeting newly formed, leaky blood vessels beneath the retina with an invisible laser light beam, dissolving fragile vessels and stopping further fluid loss from seeping through them. Unfortunately, however, this procedure only works if they have formed far enough away from damaging parts of the macula to be destroyed in just one treatment; otherwise repeated sessions are necessary.

Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy may provide relief for wet AMD in its advanced form. PDT employs a photosensitizing drug that activates when exposed to light; when combined, these oxygen molecules destroy nearby cancerous and diseased cells as well as acne, rosacea, and warts cells. Treatment takes place either in an outpatient setting or physician’s office.

Macular degeneration occurs when macular, which is a small spot at the center of retinal, light-sensitive tissue at the back of eye, stops functioning correctly, leading to blurriness and distortion of straight lines and making tasks such as threading a needle or driving difficult. Although macular degeneration does not result in complete blindness, people can often still use side (peripheral) vision to get around.

Some individuals can suffer from wet macular degeneration, in which abnormal blood vessels form and leak blood and fluid underneath the retina, causing rapid vision loss.

Treatment of wet macular degeneration involves inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein which stimulates new blood vessels and fluid accumulation within the eye. Current methods involve injecting anti-VEGF medication directly into the eye – typically monthly injections – for maximum effectiveness at slowing progression while providing no long-term visual restoration.

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers’ recent publication in Nature Medicine suggests that up to one-third of those living with wet AMD may be able to discontinue injections without further vision loss, offering hope but also cautioning that additional clinical trials must take place before making broad recommendations regarding stopping injections.

If you have a family history of macular degeneration, have experienced changes to your central vision or noticed sudden loss of color or clarity, it is crucial that you visit a physician immediately. A test called fluorescein angiography involves injecting yellow dye into a vein in your arm before taking pictures with a special camera of the retina; this helps determine if any new abnormal blood vessels have developed underneath it.

Other Options

If you have been diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, your eye doctor will offer several treatment options. One of the more prevalent approaches involves injecting medications into the eye which prevent new blood vessels from growing while slowing leakage of existing ones – known as anti-angiogenic therapy and used to reduce vision loss from wet AMD. Your professional will administer these drugs using a fine needle under cover of numbing eye drops.

Current treatments focus on targeting the protein known as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), which promotes abnormal blood vessel growth in wet AMD. There are various medications which target VEGF including Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab and Pegaptanib; but most importantly LUCENTIS is an anti-VEGF injection which has shown to stabilize and improve vision in 95% of people suffering from wet AMD when given early enough, giving real hope of improved vision for wet macular degeneration patients.

Laser surgery can also help treat wet macular degeneration. Your eye care professional may use a laser tool to aim a beam of high-energy light at your retina and destroy abnormal blood vessel growth in some wet AMD cases, though the procedure typically lasts only briefly in their office.

Certain forms of wet macular degeneration (AMD) can also be treated using laser photocoagulation, in which leaky blood vessels are sealed using laser light energy to stop further vision loss in selected AMD cases. While laser photocoagulation won’t restore vision completely, it may help slow or stop further vision loss for some AMD patients.

Make an appointment with Sumit Bhatia, MD from Signature Retina Consultants today either online or by phone to protect your eyesight from wet macular degeneration by early detection of changes and treatment recommendations that best meet your needs. At our Braidwood, Illinois location we offer expert and compassionate care for adults suffering from macular degeneration as well as other eye diseases.