What is Macular Degeneration?

Who gets Macular Degeneration?

What types of Macular Degeneration occur?

Injections for Wet Macular Degeneration

Glaucoma

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Evolution of the Animal Eye – Professor William Ayliffe

From prawns to birds we will explore how eyes have adapted to be perfect for the tasks assigned to them.

What is Macular Degeneration?

Macular degeneration is a potentially blinding condition of ageing. It affects the visual centre of the retina (loosely thought of as the photographic film at the back of the eye).

Who gets Macular Degeneration?

Macular degeneration is most common in the elderly and is known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD, or ARMD). Some unfortunate people can get problems in early adulthood. There is a genetic component and also a life-style risk in those who chose to smoke or have poor diets lacking fresh vegetables, fruit and certain essential fats called omega-3.

What types of Macular Degeneration occur?

Broadly speaking the ageing version is classified into dry and wet.

The dry version is a slowly progressive crumbling of the delicate pigment layer that nourishes the retina. Gradually vision deteriorates, increasing difficulty with reading and recognising faces leads to complete loss of the central vision.

The surrounding vision remains intact and most patients manage surprisingly well, particularly when the understand the condition will not progress to total blindness.

Currently there is no treatment, but several promising approaches are on the horizon

Wet Macular Degeneration; is greatly feared and rightly so. A rapidly growing membrane of new blood vessels under the retina leaks fluid causing sudden onset of distortion of vision.

A few decades ago this was untreatable. Laser surgery and photodynamic therapy were used formerly, but have been superceded by injections of an antibody that block the receptors needed for the new vessels to grow.

Wet Macular Degeneration with an extensive membrane causing bleeding into the retina.

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Injections for Wet Macular Degeneration

In our clinics we provide a comprehensive service for macular degeneration with latest generation scanning to assess the disease and dedicated treatment rooms for injections. The procedure is performed with a mild local anaesthetic under sterile conditions.

Before and after treatment with three injections: Complete resolution of the haemorrhages and restoration of central vision.

Regular assessments and injections are required, particularly in the first year, for this life-long condition.

Glaucoma

This common disease is the result of progressive, slow dying off of the delicate nerves inside the eye.

It is often but not always associated with the pressure in the eye being too high for the nourishment of these nerves.

Treatment of glaucoma: Most cases respond to drops.

Laser for glaucoma: If resistant special very precise laser treatment, called HSLT is available in our clinics.

Surgery for glaucoma: Much less frequently patients require a surgical drainage procedure called trabeculectomy.

Glaucoma eye after surgical drainage with a low-pressure filter bleb.

Regular monitoring is required to check the treatments are reducing the rate of nerve loss.

Regular assessments and injections are required, particularly in the first year, for this life-long condition.