HOT TOPIC New treatments for age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of visual disability and blindness in Europe and North America. On the basis of clinical appearance, AMD is classified as dry (non-neovascular) or wet (neovascular). Features of dry AMD include drusen, hyperplasia of the retinal pigment epithelium and geographic atrophy. The hallmark of wet AMD is choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), a pathological process whereby abnormal new vessels arising from the choroidal capillaries grow through the membrane separating the choroid and the retina (Bruch’s membrane) and spread under the retina. The majority of patients who develop CNV will also have features of dryAMD in the affected or contralateral eye. CNV is visualised by fluorescein angiography and is categorised into two main lesion types termed ‘classic ’ (well defined