LaserVision.gr | Macular Degeneration

Laser treatment

Laser treatment is a state-of-the-art surgical technique used for many eye problems, including wet macular degeneration. It uses highly focused light to dry up leaking blood vessels and prevent them from continuing to grow. Leakage can occur more than once, so you may require more than one treatment. Unfortunately, laser treatment isn't useful for treating dry macular degeneration.

Precise Light Seals Leaks
Laser is a highly focused beam of light, pointed in one direction. Because it's so precise, it can be aimed to seal tiny, leaking blood vessels. Laser light-often red or green in color-travels through your retina to your pigment epithelium. There, the laser seals blood vessels and dries up fluid, keeping the vessels from spreading.

The Procedure The brief outpatient procedure lasts only about 15 to 20 minutes. First, your pupil is dilated with eyedrops. Then your eye is anesthetized with an injection or drops. Holding a contact lens against your eye, your doctor focuses light into your eye. You may see flashes of light, but the procedure is usually painless.

Risks and Side Effects
A slight risk of bleeding exists, but usually any bleeding is stopped easily. Since some normal tissue is destroyed by the laser light, you are likely to experience a "blind spot." But studies show that vision loss is greater for patients with wet macular degeneration who don't receive any laser treatment.

After the Procedure
Immediately after the treatment, you're likely to have an increase in blurring, followed by a gradual improvement in your vision over several weeks. Your doctor may recommend frequent follow-up visits, since leakage from new blood vessels can occur. Be sure to check your Amsier grid daily.