Lucentis was safe and effective with quarterly (and then monthly) dosing during the 2-year Phase IIIb PIER study of subjects with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), accordingto a new report from the study. Lucentis provided significant visual acuity (VA) benefit in patients with AMD-related CNV compared with sham injection....

Vitrectomy decreases the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new research study. There is no published evidence that a vitrectomy hastens the progression of AMD. Intraocular surgery is known however to incite significant inflammation and breakdown of the blood–ocular barrier, which may last from weeks to...

The polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) phenotype in Caucasian patients is associated with the major alleles in three age-related macular degeneration (AMD)-associated loci, suggesting that PCV and AMD are genetically similar, according to a new research study. Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) is characterized by aneurysmal dilations...

A genome-wide association study has identified a possible role of the hepatic lipase gene (LIPC) in advanced AMD, according to a new research report. These findings implicate a new biologic pathway in AMD and provide new avenues for prevention and treatment of AMD. The role of the alternative complement pathway in disease pathogenesis was...

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) and polymorphisms in the CFH and ARMS2/HTRA1 genes are independently associated with risk of AMD, according to a new research study. Higher CRP level tends to confer a higher risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) within most genotype groups. Studies have documented the importance of genetic,...

A new research study finds that significant improvement in visual acuity was attained by refraction in 11% of the new low-vision patients. Refraction often may be overlooked in low-vision patients, because the main cause of vision decrease is not refractive, but rather is the result of underlying ocular disease. This study was carried out to...

In a reversal of popular assumptions new research shows that when people with sight loss suffer depression and low quality of life it is more to do with low incomes, ill health and lack of social participation, than it is to do with their loss of vision. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Manchester School of Social...

Researchers demonstrate that non-viral gene therapy can delay the onset of some forms of retinal degeneration and preserve vision, according to a new study. The researchers developed nanoparticles to deliver therapeutic genes to the retina and found that treated mice temporarily retained more eyesight than controls. "Our work shows that...

Despite the success of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy in treating age-related macular degeneration, serious concerns abound over the potential burden of repeated injections. Although still in the early stages of development, candidate drug therapies could offer the theoretical potential of enhancing anti-VEGF efficacy and, perhaps, leading to...

The European Medicines Agency has granted Allergan marketing authorization for its dexamethasone intravitreal implant for treating macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion, the company announced in a press release. With the approval, Ozurdex (dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant) becomes the first and only therapeutic agent...

Pseudocysts in the retinal layers are present in about 27% of eyes with geographic atrophy (GA) attributable to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a recent research report. In several studies of eyes with GA, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) shows the atrophic areas as thin and hyperreflective. This...

Patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) treated with photodynamic therapy (PDT) have better visual acuity (VA) 1 year after treatment in those patients with better pre-treatment visual acuity, smaller lesion size, and absence of subfoveal lesions, according to a new study. Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) is a condition...