![]() Plan to have someone drive you home from your procedure. However, these symptoms should be mild and disappear in 1 or 2 days. You’ll receive instructions for follow-up care, such as the use of antibiotic eye drops and acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil) for pain relief. What to expect following treatmentĪfter your treatment, your doctor will examine your eye and clean the area around it. You might even experience a visual disturbance as the injected fluid mixes with the fluid in your eye. They’ll use a device to hold your eyelids open and use a thin needle to perform the injection.ĭuring the injection, you may feel a small amount of pressure or discomfort. Your doctor will use numbing drops to ensure that you don’t feel pain and will clean the surface of your eye. The injections take place in your doctor’s office. This stops or slows the blood vessel leaking and extra vessel growth found in wet AMD. When anti-VEGF medication is injected into your eyes, its binding action prevents VEGF from interacting with endothelial receptor sites. In your eyes, however, too much blood vessel growth and vessel permeability can cause wet AMD. The growth of new blood vessels is important in situations such as wound healing. The purpose of VEGF is to increase the permeability (leakiness) of blood vessels and help grow new ones. It interacts with receptor sites in the lining of blood vessels, called the endothelium. There are currently four types of anti-VEGF injections used to treat wet AMD: In each case, aptamers - chemically synthesized short strands of RNA (nucleic acid) - prevent the VEGF from binding to its receptor. Several different injections are typically recommended for treatment of wet AMD.Įach injection contains a different anti-VEGF medication in a sterile solution, in addition to other ingredients that help the injection work. This is the fluid-filled space in your eye between your lens and retina. Since VEGF is beneficial in other areas of the body, it’s important that anti-VEGF medication go only in your eye and nowhere else.įor this reason, your doctor will use an injection to place the medication directly into your vitreous cavity. However, treatment with anti-VEGF injections has been shown to provide stabilization in up to 90 percent of wet AMD cases, and it can sometimes reverse vision loss.Īnti-VEGF injections are one of the most effective ways to reduce and sometimes reverse vision loss from wet AMD.Īn ophthalmologist administers these injections to each affected eye at regular intervals, usually every 4 weeks. ![]() Untreated wet AMD is responsible for most cases of age-related blindness. These vessels leak and can cause rapid loss of vision.ĭry AMD is more common and progresses slower, but wet AMD is more serious. Abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula, triggered by too much vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The macula slowly gets thinner as time passes, and vision gradually gets blurry. This is the part of your retina that enables you to read, see fine details, and recognize faces. An anti-VEGF injection is a fast and relatively pain-free procedure that can be done in the office of an eye professional.Īge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common reason for central vision loss in people ages 65 and over.ĪMD is caused by changes to the macula.Anti-VEGF injections are the most effective way to reduce and sometimes reverse vision loss from wet AMD.Wet AMD happens when VEGF triggers abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye.Some people can eventually stop getting the injections, but others need to keep getting injections to protect their vision.Share on Pinterest Robert Llewellyn/Getty Images Over time, you may need injections less often. ![]() Most people who get anti-VEGF injections will need injections once a month at first. Medicines called anti-VEGF drugs block this protein and help improve vision. A type of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) called neovascular or “wet” AMD.Macular edema from various retinovascular diseases, including diabetic macular edema (DME) or vein occlusion, such as CRVO.Your eye doctor may prescribe anti-VEGF injections if you have: Too much VEGF can also cause blood vessels to grow abnormally, which could damage the eye.Īnti-VEGF drugs block VEGF and can improve vision. In certain eye diseases, the body makes too much of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which can cause blood vessels to leak, leading to swelling in the retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye).
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