How do you treat AMD?

At the moment, there is no treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration. But there is a lot of work being done on that and in the next 2 – 5 years we may have some positive news.

In terms of wet AMD, the treatment has been revolutionised with the introduction of what are called anti-VEGF drugs which are vascular endothelial growth factor drugs, which are injected into the eye. This sounds awful, but it’s a procedure that takes about two minutes and is painless. And there a some patients who have had 30 or 40 injections and therefore it is a very effective form of treatment.

The wet AMD the treatment consists of monthly injections of these anti-VEGF drugs. And at the end of that 3 months, an assessment is made as to whether they should be either further in the course of injections or done on an as required basis.

There are at the moment three different types of drugs, as Avastin, Eylea, and Lucentis. Avastin isn’t used because it hasn’t got a product license in this country, but we do use either Eylea or Lucentis. And to some extent, it depends on doctor preference and patient characteristics.

More about Paul Rosen

Paul Rosen is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at The Grange Eye Consultants. His special expertise is in laser eye surgery, cataract surgery, and the treatment of Age-related Macular Degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal diseases. He has over 20 years experience in treating people with eye problems. Paul is invited to lecture on cataract and refractive surgery both nationally and internationally. He leads clinical trials investigating novel eye treatments. Paul has served as the President of the UK and Ireland Society of Refractive Surgeons and is currently the President of the European Society of Corneal and Refractive Surgery. More recently I’d been appointed as a member of the NICE Cataract Guidelines Committee and also on the Refractive Surgery Subcommittee of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.