A world first nanosecond laser study showed promising results in slowing the progression to vision loss, of people with early stage agerelated macular degeneration (AMD).
Principal Investigator Professor Robyn Guymer AM, from the Centre for Eye Research Australia, announced the results of the three year multi-centred, randomised, controlled trial at the International Euretina Meeting in Vienna, Austria during September.
Prof. Guymer reported that patients with less severe signs of AMD (representing 76 per cent of the participants) who were treated with Retinal Rejuvenation Therapy (2RT) Laser, developed by Australian company Ellex, showed nearly a four-fold decrease in progression rate of their disease. However, participants with more severe signs of disease at the beginning of the trial (24 per cent of participants) had a doubling of their progression rate to late stages of AMD when compared to participants who were not treated.
Prof. Guymer said, “Whilst this new laser isn’t a cure, and it is not suitable for every person with early stages of AMD, this is an important outcome in reducing progression to late disease. If validated in future trials, this will be the first time that a laser intervention has successfully addressed AMD disease progression from its early stages to late AMD in more than 20 years of AMD laser research.”
