gms | German Medical Science

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. There is increasing evidence to support that the immune system and extracellular matrix changes play an important role in pathogenesis of AMD. Recent genetic data has also supported these hypotheses, however, it is remain largely unclear how would a genetic polymorphism which is present at birth, leading to a blinding condition in late life.

As clinicians, we have often faced with patients with bilateral drusen, it is unclear when, if ever, they would develop choroidal neovascularisation (CNV). Using the AREDS risk scale, we can give some information but it is far from precise. We have all seen patients with very few drusen, would have been considered low risk, but then develop CNV. The ability to identify biomarkers which can predict CNV formation in the near future would be clinically useful. Furthermore, these biomarkers might also be used to monitor novel prophylactic treatment.

I am going to present our recent effort in the process of achieving this goal.