This site is intended for UK healthcare professionals.
menu
close
menu
close

The Unmet Patient Need

The time is now

Geographic Atrophy (GA) Affects More People Than You Realise

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) advances to GA, which can cause irreversible vision loss.1,2

GA affects ~5 million people worldwide, and an estimated 276,000 people in the UK3,4

GA is expected to affect more than 18 million people worldwide by 20405,6

People with GA typically lose their vision within 2.5 years7

Once vision is affected by GA, change is irreversible — early diagnosis is an important first step in seeking to minimise disease impact.

Visual Acuity ≠ Visual
Function

Monitoring for progression can be difficult since disease progression is NOT always correlated with a decline in visual acuity, particularly with extrafoveal lesions.

To get a complete look at how GA is impacting your patients, you can go beyond best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) by evaluating functional assessments.3,8

Functional Tests to Assess GA
Contrast Sensitivity

Contrast Sensitivity

May be used to detect abnormal visual function in patients with good BCVA3

Low-Light Visual Acuity (LLVA)

Low-Light Visual Acuity (LLVA)

Deficits in LLVA are associated with higher GA lesion progression rates8

Dark Adaptation

Dark Adaptation

Delayed dark adaptation may provide evidence of AMD before the appearance of clinical features, such as drusen and focal pigmentary changes2,9

Microperimetry

Microperimetry

A decrease in retinal sensitivity can correlate with lesion enlargement over time8,10

Fear of Vision Loss

Patients with GA fear missing out on important life events and losing their independence.11,12

Patients May Experience

Distorted
vision,13 scotoma,14 
and photopsia14

Central field defect13

Vision loss14

Which Leads to Patients Worrying About

Missing meaningful life events11, 12,15,16

Being unable to complete everyday tasks16,17

Loss of independence (eg, difficulty driving)12, 15-17

GA Changes Lives

Emerging therapies may offer eye care professionals the opportunity to slow the progression of GA and help patients address some of the biggest obstacles they face in their daily lives.8

Patients Lose More Than Just Vision

Reported difficulty reading for everyday tasks or leisure17

Lose confidence driving at night16

Will lose their ability to drive within 1.6 years after diagnosis12

References

  1. Boyer DS, Schmidt-Erfurth U, van Lookeren Campagne M, Henry EC, Brittain C. The pathophysiology of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and the complement pathway as a therapeutic target. Retina. 2017;37(5):819-835.
  2. Holz FG, Strauss EC, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, van Lookeren Campagne M. Geographic atrophy: clinical features and potential therapeutic approaches. Ophthalmology. 2014;121(5):1079-1091.
  3. Sadda SR, Chakravarthy U, Birch DG, Staurenghi G, Henry EC, Brittain C. Clinical endpoints for the study of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Retina. 2016;36(10):1806-1822.
  4. Owen, C, Jarrar, Z, Wormald, R, et al. The estimated prevalence and incidence of late stage age related macular degeneration in the UK. Br J Ophthalmol. 2012;96(5):752-756.
  5. Wong WL, Su X, Li X, et al. Global prevalence of age-related macular degeneration and disease burden projection for 2020 and 2040: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health. 2014;2(2):e106-e116.
  6. Wong WL, Su X, Li X, et al. Global prevalence of age-related macular degeneration and disease burden projection for 2020 and 2040: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health. 2014;2(suppl):1-21.
  7. Bakri SJ, Bektas M, Sharp D, Luo R, Sarda SP, Khan S. Geographic atrophy: mechanism of disease, pathophysiology, and role of the complement system. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2023;29(5-a Suppl):S2-S11.
  8. Fleckenstein M, Mitchell P, Freund KB, et al. The progression of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 2018:125(3):369-390.
  9. Owsley C, McGwin G Jr, Clark ME, et al. Delayed rod-mediated dark adaptation is a functional biomarker for incident early age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(2):344-351.
  10. Meleth AD, Pradeep M, Aaron E, et al. Changes in retinal sensitivity in geographic atrophy progression as measured by microperimetry. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52(2):1119-1126.
  11. Sayegh RG, Sacu S, Dunavolgyi R, et al. Geographic atrophy and foveal-sparing changes related to visual acuity in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration over time. Am J Ophthalmol. 2017;179:118-128.
  12. Chakravarthy U, Bailey CC, Johnston RL, et al. Characterizing disease burden and progression of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 2018;125(6):842-849.
  13. Stahl A. The diagnosis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2020;117(29-30):513-520.
  14. Flaxel CJ, Adelman RA, Bailey ST, et al. Age-Related Macular Degeneration Preferred Practice Pattern®. Ophthalmology. 2020;127(1):P1-P65.
  15. Carlton J, Barnes S, Haywood A. Patient perspectives in geographic atrophy (GA): exploratory qualitative research to understand the impact of GA for patients and their families. Br Ir Orthopt J. 2019;15(1):133-141.
  16. Patel PJ, Ziemssen F, Ng E, et al. Burden of illness in geographic atrophy: a study of vision-related quality of life and health care resource use. Clin Ophthalmol. 2020;14:15-28.
  17. Singh RP, Patel SS, Nielsen JS, Schmier J, Rajput Y. Patient-, caregiver-, and eye care professional-reported burden of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol Clin Trials. 2019;2(1):1-6.