The AMD is a degeneration of the central and more important zone of the retina called macula or "yellow spot", which corresponds to the visual mid-field. The macula is an area of the retina you use to focus when you look at an object. It is the area of the retina that is fundamentally used for reading, for distinguishing the colours and for vision in good lighting conditions.

Possibly this degeneration is caused by the lack of nutrition in this area of the retina. The Age related Macular degeneration or AMD is the most frequent reason of legal blindness (vision lower than 10%) for people over 55 years old in the highly industrialised countries.

What symptoms are produced by AMD?

The initial symptoms are usually as follows: blurred or distorted vision, dark central spot, or seeing an image smaller than usual. In its evolution, especially in its humid or exuding form, it manages to eliminate central vision in a permanent way.

How is it possible to verify if I have AMD?

By means of the Amsler`s test (it can be verified with our virtual examination). Your ophthalmologist will expand your pupil and look at the bottom of the eye. You may be possibly be advised to allow the specialist to take pictures of the bottom of the eye with a special camera and a flash. To do that you may have to be injected a yellow colouring (fluoresceine) into an arm’s vein.

What kind of treatment will be necessary for AMD?

In the dry type, by far the most common (80-85%), no treatment is possible. Only 10-15% of cases (the humid or exuding DMAE) at initial stages can be treated with THERMAL LASER on injuries far away from the fovea ( central pit ) . Also, the new PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY can be used for injuries in the fovea or close to it.

What is HAEMODYNAMIC PHOTOTHERAPY?

It consists of the intravenous injection (in the arm) of the so called "verteporfino" drug during a 10 minute period, then a laser is applied on the stain for 15 minutes. The purpose of the treatment is to close the new blood capillaries limiting the destruction of the retina. This therapy is usually repeated if it is indicated by the fluoresceinic angiography. This treatment has frequently contributed to successfully stabilise the vision of many patients, even in a few opportunities an improvement of 1 or 2 vision lines has been recorded.