[Age-related macular degeneration]

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of non treatable blindness in industrialized countries. The impairment of visual acuity is preceded by the occurrence of "precursors" some of which are the witness of aging and others are the first symptoms of age-related degeneration of the macular retina. The disease involves both eyes with time resulting in a major handicap. Eventually, central visual acuity is destroyed, making reading, writing and recognition of faces impossible. Different clinical types are identified: the atrophic form for which there is at present no possibility of treatment, and the neovascular form in which the destruction of the new vessels with laser photocoagulation is beneficial. However, only an early diagnosis and treatment may allow a preservation of central vision. New possibilities of angiographic diagnosis, new therapeutic approaches (macular surgery or transplantation) based on physiopathogenic research, provide new hopes.