Ophthalmology
August 2014
Current Issues in Age-Related Macular Degeneration
by Robyn Guymer, Chi Luu
This book brings together the history of our understanding of the disease and its treatments, and brings us to today, where we are on the cusp of major advances in the understanding of this devastating disease and its potential treatments. This book initially addresses the classification of the disease with its signs and symptoms, and then summarizes the current knowledge of epidemiology, risk factors and genetic predisposition. The book then addresses the novel approaches to multimodal imaging of the macula and modern techniques used for testing retinal function. Treatments are then discussed, both highlighting the first treatments tried in neovascular AMD before anti-VEGF treatment became widespread, and then detailing the anti-VEGF era. Novel approaches to treat AMD are highlighted, including interventions that will probably have an impact on other blinding diseases such as stem cell therapy treatments and gene replacement. Finally, the impact of AMD on quality of life is discussed, and a subset of AMD called polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy is highlighted, as it appears to be a distinct subgroup and more common than initially realized. It may have different risk factors and response to treatments compared with more typical AMD.
