New research by the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) in cooperation with the University of Bonn 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 this eye disease in older patients, which otherwise slowly leads to central blindness, and to test new therapies. AMD mainly affects elderly people.
If left untreated, the disease 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 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. "We used the microperimetry method to precisely measure the visual acuity at these affected areas of the retina," explain Julius Ameln, Dr. Marlene Saßmannshausen and Dr.
Leon von der Emde, who carried out the examinations. This involves measuring the sensitivity of the retina to light stimuli in order to identify visual impairments. As the affected retinal areas are smaller than 250 micrometers, ro.
