Dra. Daniela Barba Castelo | Ophthalmologist
Macular Diseases
Dra. Daniela Barba Castelo | Ophthalmologist
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Age-related macular degeneration is a degenerative disease of the area of best vision that is the macula, causing alterations in central vision.
Macular degeneration is a chronic disease associated with multiple factors and is detected in adults over 60 years of age. In special cases it may have a genetic component that young people develop the disease.
It is mainly characterized by deposits below the retina in the macular area where we have the finest vision, this deposited material is known as drusen.
Vision loss tends to be slow and progressive but tends to respect peripheral vision; This occurs because the problem occurs at the level of the retinal pigment epithelium, thus damaging the light-sensitive cells (photoreceptors) and that is why vision quality is lost.
The main symptoms of macular degeneration are distortions or deformations in the central vision, there may also be a central spot in the images and loss of vision
There are two types of AMD:
Dry AMD
Wet AMD
Risk factor's
The main risk factor for macular degeneration is age. Several studies have shown that tobacco is related to macular degeneration since it causes an alteration in the choroidal circulation.
One of the theories about the origin of AMD is retinal oxidative damage. Different studies have shown the protective effect of supplements with antioxidants.
Treatment
Treatment for macular degeneration is aimed at the wet form and consists of the intravitreal injection of antiangiogenics with a variable periodicity and frequency, depending on the response to the treatment.
Intravitreal injection is performed on an outpatient basis, under topical anesthesia and meeting the established criteria.
There is currently no treatment for the dry form of the disease
