Geographic atrophy<\/strong> is an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in which certain areas of the retina progressively lose their function.<\/p>\n When it affects the central retina, it can make important everyday activities such as reading, recognising faces or seeing fine details increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n For many years, there was no treatment capable of modifying its progression. However, this is beginning to change.<\/p>\n Geographic atrophy causes progressive loss of the retinal cells responsible for vision.<\/p>\n The affected areas gradually become larger and, when they approach the centre of the macula, they can cause significant loss of central vision.<\/p>\n Unlike neovascular or \u201cwet\u201d AMD, there is usually no fluid or bleeding. The main problem is the progressive loss of retinal tissue.<\/p>\n For the first time, yes.<\/p>\n Two medicines, pegcetacoplan<\/strong> and avacincaptad pegol<\/strong>, have been approved in the United States and can slow the growth of areas of atrophy.<\/p>\n They are administered by injections into the eye and act on part of the immune system known as the complement system, which is involved in the development of the disease.<\/p>\n Clinical studies have shown that these treatments can make the atrophy progress more slowly.<\/p>\n No. And this is probably the most important information for patients.<\/p>\n These treatments do not regenerate retina that has already been lost and do not restore lost vision<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Their aim is different: to try to preserve the retina that is still functioning for longer.<\/p>\n We are therefore talking about slowing the disease, not curing it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The location of the atrophy is very important.<\/p>\n In some patients, the disease can progress for years around the centre of the macula before directly affecting it.<\/p>\n If we can slow this progression, we may potentially delay the point at which the disease reaches areas that are particularly important for vision.<\/p>\n However, further studies are still needed to determine how much this benefit ultimately translates into better preservation of everyday visual function.<\/p>\n Currently, these medicines are not authorised for the treatment of geographic atrophy in the European Union<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Although they have been shown to slow lesion growth, European authorities have considered that it has not yet been sufficiently demonstrated that this anatomical effect produces a functional benefit for patients that outweighs the risks and burden of repeated injections.<\/p>\n Therefore, although they represent an important scientific advance, they are not currently part of routine treatment for geographic atrophy in Europe.<\/p>\n Regular monitoring remains essential.<\/p>\n Tests such as OCT<\/strong> and fundus autofluorescence<\/strong> allow us to monitor the progression of the disease and identify other changes associated with AMD.<\/p>\n It is also important not to smoke, to maintain healthy lifestyle habits and to assess individually whether nutritional supplements are appropriate.<\/p>\n Regular examinations are particularly important because a patient with geographic atrophy can also develop neovascular AMD, for which highly effective anti\u2011VEGF treatments are available.<\/p>\n We are experiencing an important change in the treatment of geographic atrophy.<\/p>\n For the first time, we have demonstrated that its progression can be slowed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We cannot yet restore retina that has already been lost, and these new medicines are not currently authorised in Europe, but they represent an important first step towards treatments capable of modifying the course of a disease for which, until very recently, we had no specific therapeutic option.<\/p>\n Content prepared and reviewed by Antonio Soler<\/strong>, ophthalmic surgeon and Medical Director of Soleyes Eye Clinic.<\/p>\n This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace an individual medical consultation. Any diagnosis or treatment decision should be made by an ophthalmologist after a comprehensive eye examination.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Geographic Atrophy in AMD: New Treatments to Slow Its Progression Geographic atrophy is an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eye-diseases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9993,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9992\/revisions\/9993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soleyes.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What happens in geographic atrophy?<\/h2>\n
Are treatments now available?<\/h2>\n
Can they restore lost vision?<\/h2>\n
Why could slowing the atrophy be important?<\/h2>\n
Are these treatments available in Spain and Europe?<\/h2>\n
What can we do meanwhile?<\/h2>\n
In summary<\/h2>\n
\nMedically Reviewed Information<\/h2>\n