文档介绍：Developments in AMD management keep pace with increase in incidence
Cancer drugs are showing promise for the wet form; vitamins are helpful for the dry.
Primary Care Optometry News, December 2010
Len V Hua, OD PhD FAAO
As life expectancy lengthens, the incidence of age-related macular degeneration increases proportionally. A large body of research is devoted to the treatment, prevention and monitoring of both the wet and the mon dry form of AMD.
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Wet AMD management
Photocoagulation was the first approach devised in the late 1980s to destroy choroidal neovascular membranes (CNVMs). It reduced the risk of severe vision loss, but side effects included permanent scars and scotomas.
Figure 1. Red-free fundus photo shows scattered drusen in the macula of the right eye.
Image: Hua LV
About a decade later, Visudyne (photodynamic therapy [PDT] with verteporfin, Novartis, QLT), a pharmacologic photosensitizer, was developed with more selective targeting VM. Studies showed that the reduction in vision loss was similar, but with less retinal scarring.
Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) have been well known as a dominant player in choroidal neovascularization as is seen with