July 18, 2019 – Eye Medicine Reservoir

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Anchor lead: A new device may make treating a common eye disease much easier, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Macular degeneration or AMD is an eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness in people older than fifty. One form of the disease can be treated by injecting the eye with a drug known as an anti-VEGF, but this must be done fairly often. Now a new study by Peter Campochiaro, an ophthalmologist at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues, shows an implanted drug delivery system safely reduces the need for frequent injections.

Campochiaro: Vision gets worse, then they get an injection it gets better, a much better system is to have sustained delivery of an anti-VEGF. Patients who received the highest concentration went an average of 18 months before they needed a refill. So we don’t have to have them come in every few months but rather every six months to get a refill. This could greatly improve compliance and improve outcomes in patients with wet AMD.    :30

Campochiaro says a much larger study will need to be completed to confirm these results. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.