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Even in age of anti-VEGF therapy, scotomas need attention
ATLANTA — Despite a great improvement in fovea functionality thanks to anti-VEGF therapy, scotomas still plague low vision patients, and retinal physicians must be aware of them, a surgeon said here.
"Anti-VEGF technology is making my job in low vision rehab tremendously easier. ... But remember, at least half of low vision patients today still need eccentric viewing training to maximize their ability in using their preferred viewing locus, so this is not to be ignored," Donald C. Fletcher, MD, said during Retina Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.
Dr. Fletcher conducted a 10-year comparison of low vision patients from 1997 and 2007. He found that while many characteristics remained the same, functional fovea differed greatly, as 80% of low vision patients in 1997 did not have a functional fovea as compared with 50% of those in 2007.
"This is an entity that basically didn't occur before the advent of our [anti-VEGF] treatments for exudative maculopathies," he said.