Eye Care
Laser Treatment Ineffective for AMD Patients
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Dec 11, 2006 - 7:00:00 AM

STUDY SHOWS LASER TREATMENT INEFFECTIVE FOR AMD PATIENTS


(HealthNewsDigest.com).. COLUMBUS, Ohio – The use of low-intensity laser treatment has been a common treatment for age-related macular degeneration, but a recent study shows there is no difference in vision or progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration between laser-treated and untreated eyes.

Researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center were among scientists involved in a nationwide study seeking clinically significant evidence of the benefits of laser treatment. Smaller studies examining laser treatment have shown inconsistent results. But, physicians have known for some time that patients in the early stages of age-related macular degeneration are at an increased risk of progressing to the late stages of the disease and experiencing severe vision loss

Ohio State’s Department of Ophthalmology participated in the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial, a multicenter clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of low-intensity laser treatment in the prevention of visual acuity loss among patients at high risk for progression to late age-related macular degeneration.

“This study has shown no evidence of significant beneficial or harmful effects of preventive laser treatment in eyes with bilateral large drusen at high risk for progression to late AMD,” said Dr. Frederick Davidorf, a professor of ophthalmology and the study’s principal investigator at Ohio State’s Medical Center.

The findings, published in the November issue of the journal Ophthalmology, showed that laser treatment was ineffective in preventing complications from age-related macular degeneration or loss of vision.

Macular degeneration blurs sharp, central vision that is needed for “straight-ahead” activities, including reading and driving, and affects the part of the eye that allows a person to see fine detail.

A total of 1,052 participants, all over the age of 50, were enrolled in the 22-center randomized study over a period of five years. The participants, who were an average age of 71, had 10 or more large drusen, bits of yellowish deposits under the retina that is characteristic of age-related macular degeneration, and a visual acuity of 20/40 or better in each eye. One eye of each participant was assigned to laser treatment, while the other eye was untreated.

At the end of the five-year study, 20.5 percent of the treated eyes and 20.5 percent of the untreated eyes had lost three or more lines of visual acuity on a standard eye chart. Also, 20 percent of treated and untreated eyes progressed to advanced age-related macular degeneration.

The studied also showed that at-risk patients can be identified with a retinal examination and that low-intensity laser treatments did not alter the progression of the disease.

As a result of the study, doctors will need to look elsewhere for alternative effective treatments. Ohio State researchers will soon study newer non-laser treatments, which have shown to be effective in wet age-related macular degeneration.

“I believe that the ability to diagnose wet age-related macular degeneration early in the course of the disease, followed by anti-growth hormone therapy, will prolong useful vision in the majority of these patients,” says Davidorf. “The development of these drugs is truly a major breakthrough in preventing visual loss in patients with age-related macular degeneration.”

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older. The disease advances so slowly, in some cases, that one may not notice little changes in their vision. However, in others, the disease progresses faster and may lead to the loss of vision in both eyes.

The study was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

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