Here's good news for your patients who suffer from age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This year, at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting, Joseph Olk, M.D., presented a paper announcing that treatment with Iridex's Iris Medical OcuLight SLx infrared laser photocoagulator reduced the progression of dry AMD to wet AMD.

This clinical study was conducted over a 4-year period. Researchers studied 152 patients with dry AMD. Two hundred and twenty-nine eyes were randomized either to be observed in a control group or to receive a single treatment with the laser.

The 4-year data showed that accumulated deposits -- drusen -- associated with the early stages of dry AMD were significantly reduced following a single treatment in 78% of the eyes, compared to 8% in the control group. Also, visual acuity was significantly improved by two or more lines in 34% of the treated eyes, compared with none in the control group. All eyes with visual acuity improvement had drusen reduction.

The study indicates that eyes which had a reduction in drusen (responder), progressed to wet AMD at a lower rate than eyes that didn't respond to treatment (non-responder). During the 4-year follow-up period, 35 eyes progressed to wet AMD, 34 of which were in the observation group or were non-responders to treatment.

Dr. Olk, Director of The Retina Center of St. Louis County, St. Louis, Mo., commented, "Since nearly 80% of the treated eyes did respond to the treatment, this strongly suggests the possibility that the Iridex laser system is effective prophylactic treatment."