Epimacular brachytherapy now used to treat AMD

Macular degeneration is an aggressive condition in which abnormal blood vessels form in the part of the eye called the macula. These blood vessels are very fragile and often leak blood and fluid, causing scar tissue to form.

This affects central vision, which is essential for everyday tasks such as reading and driving.

Sufferers struggle to recognize faces at a distance, have a blurred or blind spot in the centre of their vision, and straight lines can appear wavy.

A new treatment procedure called Epimacular brachytherapy, when used to treat patients requiring chronic anti-VEGF therapy, may reduce the burden of treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

According to results from a study presented at the joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, a single procedure of epimacular brachytherapy can further improve visual acuity in a majority of this patient population while decreasing the number of injections required. Most important, 63% of patients enrolled in the study experienced improvement in their visual acuity while 50% of patients gained five or more letters of visual acuity at 6 months.

Preliminary results indicate that epimacular brachytherapy may help reduce treatment burden in a population of patients that are at high risk for visual decline, even if they are undergoing sustained anti-VEGF monotherapy, according to Pravin U. Dugel, MD, of Retinal Consultants of Arizona.

Eye experts in the UK are using epimacular brachytherapy to treat the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). During outpatient surgery, surgeons place a "radioactive pellet" that travels down the inside of a probe into the eye, where it gives the macula a high dose of radiation designed to burn the abnormal blood vessels growing behind the retina

Posted in: American Academy of Ophthalmology, Macular Degeneration