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Treatment

Laser Treatment

For many years, laser treatment was the only treatment available for wet AMD. The laser beam is a high-energy light that turns to heat when it hits the parts of the retina to be treated. This heat destroys the CNV and stops it from growing, leaking, and bleeding. A scar forms as a result of the treatment and this scar creates a permanent blind spot in the field of vision.

Vision does not usually improve after laser treatment and, in some cases, may even be somewhat worse. But loss of vision following laser, though immediate, is usually less severe than the eventual loss of vision that usually occurs if no treatment is done. In many cases, the visual distortion will disappear after laser treatment.

Laser treatment only works about half the time. Since macular degeneration is a condition that is caused by the aging process, laser treatment is often only a means of temporarily preventing further loss of vision, or lessening the amount of visual loss that usually occurs if no laser is done. In spite of laser treatment, vision may continue to worsen. But if laser is indicated, the chances are that there will be less visual loss with laser than with no laser treatment. Without laser, loss of central vision will usually continue.

Before laser treatment, people with CNV (wet macular degeneration) often notice that they have a dark or gray spot in or near their central vision. The laser treatment will cause that spot to become completely and permanently blank, empty, or black. That area of the macula is sacrificed to save the remaining portions of the macula.

The decision to use laser depends upon the appearance and location of the CNV, as well as how much blood is present. In addition, the general health of the macula is important. In some cases, laser treatment may not be helpful, or even possible, and is best not done.

Even when laser treatment is considered successful, and the CNV has been destroyed, new or additional CNV (abnormal blood vessels) can appear months or years later and further damage vision. The patient who is treated with laser should continually check the vision of the treated eye and tell the doctor immediately if there are new changes, such as a return of distortion or blurriness; in some cases additional treatment may be helpful.