AMD Patients May Not Need Monthly Injections

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Here’s good news if you suffer from age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of severe vision loss among people 50 years of age or older in industrialized countries. A team of researchers at Miguel Servet University Hospital in Zaragoza, Spain and the University of Toronto in Canada have found that, contrary to previous clinical trial findings, monthly injections to counteract AMD may not be necessary. The study was in May 2014 presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Orlando, Florida..

A release from the association reports that the investigators used a strategy called "treat and extend" to conduct the study, in which the frequency of office visits and injections were tailored to each patient's individual response to therapy. Following 185 patients over a three-and-a-half-year period, the average number of visits and injections was reduced from 12 to 8.3 times per year.

The findings could reduce the burden associated with frequent therapy, lowering the financial pressure on patients, families and government, not to mention the relief of not having to undergo the treatment so frequently.