The wet form of age-related macular degeneration can cause devastating vision loss in some patients; the vision loss results from abnormal growth and the leaking of blood vessels under the retina. The available drug treatments for this condition involve either an injection in the arm or an injection into the eye to administer the medication.
Photodynamic Therapy with Verteporfin
Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin was the first FDA-approved medication treatment of macular degeneration that impacted the growth of the blood vessels. Your doctor injects the verteporfin into your arm and activates the medication with a laser.
Pegaptinib Injections
The next approved drug therapy for macular degeneration was pegaptinib, which your doctor injects into the back of your eye every six weeks. This medication can stop the growth of blood vessels.
Ranibizumab Injections
Ranibizumab also can halt the growth of the blood vessels and is FDA-approved for injection every four weeks to maintain benefits from the medication.
Bevacizumab Injections
Bevacizumab is a colon cancer treatment that is chemically related to ranibizumab and is often used to treat macular degeneration in the same way. However, it has not been FDA-approved for macular degeneration, as of July 2009.
Steroid Injections
Some researchers have used different types of steroids as injections into the eye to attempt to stop the leaking of the abnormal blood vessels, but the results of these studies have not been that promising.
Tags: blood vessels, macular degeneration, growth blood, growth blood vessels, doctor injects, vision loss
