Discovery could help with early detection of vision loss in age-related macular degeneration
Key Takeaways
- New research has shown for the first time that certain early changes in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can lead to a measurable local loss of vision.
- This discovery could help to improve the treatment and monitoring of AMD in older patients, which otherwise slowly leads to central blindness, and to test new therapies.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that, if left untreated, leads to a progressive loss of central vision, which significantly impairs everyday activities such as reading or driving. Researchers around the world are intensively searching for ways to improve the early detection and treatment of this disease before major losses occur.
A research team from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) Eye Clinic, in cooperation with the University of Bonn and in close collaboration with basic and clinical scientists, has specifically examined patients with early forms of AMD. The researchers focused on the so-called iRORA lesions, which are very early anatomical signs of retinal damage. They measured the sensitivity of the retina to light stimuli to identify visual impairments using a new, high-resolution research instrument developed in Bonn known as an adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO). “It enables imaging of the retina with microscopic resolution and allows functional testing of small areas down to individual photoreceptors,” says Dr. Wolf Harmening, head of the AOSLO laboratory at the UKB Eye Hospital.
The results, published in BMJ Open Ophthalmology, were clear: The visual acuity in the areas of the lesions was markedly reduced. Using a standard measurement method, the loss was on average 7 units compared to a control region. With the precise AOSLO method, the loss was 20, which corresponds to a reduction in light sensitivity by a factor of 100.
These results illustrate that iRORA lesions already have a significant impact on vision. This early retinal damage could serve as a marker to better monitor the progression of the disease and treat it at an early stage. In addition, the results of this study are a further step toward better understanding how the late form of dry AMD develops with the formation of extensive retinal damage.
Edited by Miriam Kaplan, PhD
Source:
Inka Väth, University Hospital Bonn, Medical Xpress, July 10, 2024; see source article