If your eye doctor has diagnosed the presence of wet age-related macular degeneration then treatment may be offered.
Lucentis is the treatment of choice for most people. This drug stabilises the eyesight in some 90% of people once treatment has started. Around one third of people also recover some of the sight they lost before the treatment started. The drug works by inhibiting the growth of the abnormal blood vessels that cause AMD. It is also used to treat swelling of the macula due to AMD. Lucentis is administered by an injection into the eye at regular intervals (about every 4wks). Your eye doctor will tell you how often you will receive the injection and for how long. Another anti VEGF drug, Avastin, which has a similar efficacy as Lucentis may also be available upon discussion with your eye specialist.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Ocular imaging has been using OCT technology since 2007 to detect and measure retinal thickness and central retinal thickness as a means of charting disease progress in diabetic patients.
Recently the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended Lucentis as an option for treating visual impairment caused by diabetic macular oedema (DMO). The guidance recommends lucentis as an option for treating DMO only if people have a central retinal thickness of 400 micrometres or more. OCT imaging can determine whether you meet these guidelines and are eligible for Lucentis treatment.
Read more from the RNIB website >>
From RNIB:- NICE issues guidance recommending the use of Lucentis in certain cases of DMO
Clara Eaglen, Eye Health Policy and Campaigns manager at RNIB, said:
"We are pleased that NICE has published its final guidance recommending Lucentis for use in treating some patients with Diabetic Macular Oedema (DMO) as this is something RNIB, along with a number of other charities, has been calling for since last year's initial decision not to make the treatment available. "We believe NICE has thrown a lifeline to the growing number of people with diabetes facing blindness. DMO is a serious eye condition which can lead to sight loss as a result of fluid leaking from the small blood vessels in the eye.
"Currently people are needlessly losing their sight from DMO. RNIB's Save our Sight (SOS) campaign is calling for everyone with a sight-threatening condition to gain early access to treatments that will delay or halt sight loss. This new recommendation by NICE may help to reduce the amount of avoidable sight loss from DMO, which is set to increase as the number of people in the UK diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise.
"Overall the decision is a step in the right direction and a decision that we hope will eventually be extended to reach all patients with DMO."
Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion
Similarly to wet AMD and diabetic retinopathy, branch retinal vein occlusion results in the manifestation of cystoid oedema in the retina (although the cause of the leakage differs). This fluid can be detected by imaging with OCT, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. Treatment options should be discussed with your eye specialist and can include treatment with the anti VEGF drugs Lucentis or Avastin or with Ozurdex (a dexamethasone intravitreal implant).
