How to cure Maculopathy?

When to perform Maculopathy surgery

Cure for maculopathy depends on its cause. The term maculopathy stands for series of diseases that share a degeneration of the macula, which is the central portion of the retina; we use it to focus on details. The exam for the bottom of the eye, the OCT exam and the fluorangiography, make it possible to create an accurate diagnosis to define the kind of maculopathy that’s affecting the patient.

In case of Exudative Maculopathy, it is of the uttermost importance to act as soon as possible.

Exudative or wet maculopathy can be linked to several causes (myopia, venous thrombosis, diabetes, age, etc.) and it is the result of neovessels growing inside the retina. The liquind coming out of this irregular vessels accumulate in the central retina (the macula), causing image distortion.

There are several effective treatment for wet maculopathy:

• intravitreal injection of medications able to stop neovascular growth (Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab, Aflibercept, Pegaptanib etc)
• photodynamic therapy
• laser photocoagulation
• surgery (telescopic lenses implant, such as the IolAMD)

It is important that retinal liquid, tipical dor exudative maculopathy, dries as soon as possible. The more the retina stays wet, the worse vision is going to be.

It is necessary to start a therapy with intravitreal injections right after a diagnosis is made. Moreover, since more than one intravitreal injection is needed, it is important to schedule all injections so that there is not too much time in between appointments.

Even for Maculopathy cases like macular Pucker, diabetic Maculopathy, macular hole, it is best to act as soon as possible; since the macula is pretty delicate, the more time it is exposed to damaging agents, the worse therapy results are going to be.

When not to perform surgery

In case of a light maculopathy like cellophane maculopathy, vitreomacular interface syndrome, dry maculopathy, it is best not to perform surgery.

In these cases it is advisable to perform visits and exams (OCT) to monitor the disease development: this is usually a pretty slow process.

Macular surgery is a very delicate kind of surgery and it is best to perform it only when there could be a significant advantage. This stands both for surgeries and laser surgeries for maculopathy.

Maculopathy: what if it does not stop?

If maculopathy evolves, everyday activities like reading and writing, recognizing small objects, thread a needle, can become difficult.

Anyway, it is not possible to go blind, since maculopathy only involves the central part of the retina. It will always be possible to maintain a vision quality that lets the patient being independent, using the whole field of vision and lateral vision to perform everyday activities.

Today, thanks to vision rehabilitation, it is possible to use healthy retina portions to improve vision quality, relying on special helpers such as: maculopathy glasses with orange filter, prismatic glasses for maculopathy or video enlargers.