Macular degeneration - Deterioration of the macula, or the small central portion of the retina.

Macular degeneration occurs most frequently in patients over the age of 50, and is therefore more commonly referred to as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). When the macula deteriorates, the central portion of the visual field is lost, while the peripheral vision remains intact. Being over the age of 50, having a family history of age-related macular degeneration, high blood pressure, and smoking are all risk factors for AMD.  

Two forms of age-related macular degeneration exist - dry form and wet form:

• Dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) - Drusen, or yellow deposits, form under the retina. Dry age-related macular degeneration is more common and slower to progress than the wet form.  However,  there is not effective treatment currently available for dry age-related macular degeneration. Vitamin therapy is often used.
  
  
• Wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) - Abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina. This is called choroidal neovascularization. These blood vessels can cause bleeding under the macula, resulting in decreased central vision. This can come on very suddenly. While this form of AMD is less common than the dry form, it is a more visually severe form of the disease, usually resulting in a greater loss of vision.

• The dry form is much more common than the wet form. More than 85% of all people with advanced AMD have the dry form. However, if only significantly visually disabling AMD is considered, about 70% of patients have the wet form. Therefore, most significant vision loss comes from the wet form of AMD.

• The dry form can turn into the wet form. That is why the dry form has to be monitored carefully.  While the dry form could cause visual changes without turning into the wet form, it is important to diagnose a change in the dry form to the wet form as early as possible so that treatment can be instituted as early as possible to prevent further loss of vision. The dry form could turn into the wet form suddenly or in a slowly progressive fashion.

The conventional treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration is laser surgery. A new FDA-approved treatment has been proven to be extremely effective in the management of wet AMD - Intravitreal LUCENTIS. Please see the What's New section to read more about the use of LUCENTIS in the treatment of wet AMD.

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