Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTreatment OptionsDo Treatments Restore Vision?Side EffectsOther OptionsTreatment Advancements
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Treatment Options
Do Treatments Restore Vision?
Side Effects
Other Options
Treatment Advancements
Wet AMD(age-related macular degeneration)is an eye disease that affects yourcentral vision. Also called neovascular AMD, it occurs with the growth of new blood vessels that damage yourmacula. This is the part of yourretinathat controls what you see straight in front of you.
While there is no cure for AMD, treatments can help slow or reduce the vision loss that occurs with this disease. The main option involves the use of special drugs injected into your eye. Some types of wet AMD improve when these drugs are combined with laser therapy.
Treatments must be given on an ongoing basis, about every four to six weeks. This can be a barrier to continued care and optimal results. Side effects and eye damage can occur, though these problems are rare.
Dejan_Dundjerski / Getty Images
Wet AMD vs. Dry AMDAge-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that causes damage to your macula, resulting in blurred central vision.Dry AMDoccurs when cells from your macula begin to thin and break down. It can exist in its early stages without symptoms. This allows for the buildup ofdrusen, small pieces of cellular debris that can cause gradual loss of central vision.Wet AMD is called “wet” because it is linked to the growth of leaky blood vessels. It always begins as dry AMD. While vision loss from dry AMD can occur over years, wet AMD can cause sudden and dramatic central vision loss over days or weeks.
Wet AMD vs. Dry AMD
Age-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that causes damage to your macula, resulting in blurred central vision.Dry AMDoccurs when cells from your macula begin to thin and break down. It can exist in its early stages without symptoms. This allows for the buildup ofdrusen, small pieces of cellular debris that can cause gradual loss of central vision.Wet AMD is called “wet” because it is linked to the growth of leaky blood vessels. It always begins as dry AMD. While vision loss from dry AMD can occur over years, wet AMD can cause sudden and dramatic central vision loss over days or weeks.
Age-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that causes damage to your macula, resulting in blurred central vision.
Dry AMDoccurs when cells from your macula begin to thin and break down. It can exist in its early stages without symptoms. This allows for the buildup ofdrusen, small pieces of cellular debris that can cause gradual loss of central vision.
Wet AMD is called “wet” because it is linked to the growth of leaky blood vessels. It always begins as dry AMD. While vision loss from dry AMD can occur over years, wet AMD can cause sudden and dramatic central vision loss over days or weeks.
Wet AMD Treatment Options
Vision loss from wet AMD occurs when new abnormal blood vessels grow into your retina and leak fluid into this area. This causes vision distortion and gray areas in your central vision. Without prompt treatment, often within a few days to weeks of the start of symptoms, vision loss can become permanent.
The following wet AMD treatment options exist:
Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (Anti-VEGF) Injections
Anti-VEGF injections help stop the growth of new, abnormal blood vessels that occur in wet macular degeneration. These treatments are regarded as first-line therapy for treating and stabilizing the condition.
Anti-VEGF drugs target VEGF, a molecule that supports new blood vessel growth. However, blood vessels that form behind your retina can leak blood and proteins that damage macular cells. Anti-VEGF drugs prevent the growth of these damaging new blood vessels.
Anti-VEGF drugs are administered asintravitrealinjectionsinto the vitreous cavity (the space directly behind your eye). These injections are repeated roughly every four to six weeks, based on the drugs used and the severity of your condition.
Anti-VEGF medications include the following:
The procedure used to give an anti-VEGF treatment involves these steps:
Photodynamic Therapy
Though most people with wet AMD receive anti-VEGF injections as their sole treatment, some types of wet AMD may improve when these injections are combined with photodynamic therapy.
Depending on your response to this treatment, you may need photodynamic therapy repeated at three-month intervals.
Laser Photocoagulation
Laser photocoagulationmay be used to treat specific rare types of wet AMD in which abnormal blood vessels are not beneath the center of your macula. This treatment is a type of minimally invasive surgery that uses thermal laser treatments to seal or destroy leaky blood vessels.
Since it can also damage the vision cells overlying the blood vessels, laser photocoagulation is reserved for abnormal blood vessels that develop far from the macula’s center.
Managing Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Vision Loss
Do Wet AMD Treatments Restore Vision Loss?
For some people, lost vision is restored when the leakage from abnormal blood vessels dries up and the retina is restored to its normal condition.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, about 30% of people treated with anti-VEGF injections experience improved vision. At a minimum, this treatment stabilizes vision in 90% of those who receive it.
Macular Degeneration: Timeline of Vision Loss Progression
Wet AMD Treatment Side Effects
To reduce your risk of side effects and complications, ensure that your ophthalmologist has a complete medical history and list of your current medications.
Can Macular Degeneration Cause Visual Hallucinations?
Anti-VEGF treatments
Common side effects of an anti-VEGF treatment typically occur as a result of the injection rather than the drug. These problems can include the following:
Major complications are rare with anti-VEGF treatment. If they occur, they can involve the following:
The long-term effects and consequences of photodynamic therapy are still being studied. A severe loss in visual clarity can occur with photodynamic therapy though vision partially recovers in some people.
Treatment with photodynamic therapy can also result in the following side effects:
Each pulse of the laser used in laser photocoagulation causes a microscopic burn in your retina. As a result of this process, potential side effects include the following:
Other Ways to Slow Wet AMD Progression
While anti-VEGF injections are regarded as the most effective treatment to slow wet AMD progression, you can take other steps to support your eye health and manage vision changes.
Lifestyle Modifications
Making the following lifestyle modifications may help reduce your risk of disease progression:
Nutritional Supplements
Results from two major clinical trials—the Age-Related Eye Disease Studies (AREDS) and AREDS2—have demonstrated that the following combination of vitamin supplements may help delay the progression of dry AMD to wet AMD:
While these vitamins can’t improve wet AMD, they may help if your disease hasn’t progressed at the same rate in both eyes. This may be the case if one eye has intermediate-stage dry AMD and the other has wet AMD. Taking the vitamins may help slow the transition from dry AMD to wet AMD in the healthy eye.
Low-Vision Devices and Vision Rehab
Low-vision devices can improve your quality of life if your vision interferes with your ability to perform visual activities.
Low-vision rehabilitation can help you identify and learn to use magnifying optical devices and lighting aids that can help you perform specific vision functions.
Low-vision devices can include the following:
Risk Factors That May Predispose You to Rapid Disease ProgressionThe following factors increase your risk of rapid progression to wet AMD:Age, with higher risk beginning around the ages of 55–64 and increasing with ageSmokingFamily history of early-onset and severe AMDPriorstrokeorheart attackConsuming a diet high insaturated fat
Risk Factors That May Predispose You to Rapid Disease Progression
The following factors increase your risk of rapid progression to wet AMD:Age, with higher risk beginning around the ages of 55–64 and increasing with ageSmokingFamily history of early-onset and severe AMDPriorstrokeorheart attackConsuming a diet high insaturated fat
The following factors increase your risk of rapid progression to wet AMD:
Treatment Advancements for Wet AMD
The introduction of anti-VEGF injections was a groundbreaking advancement in the treatment of people suffering from vision loss from wet AMD. The injections offered hope that the condition could be slowed and potentially stopped or even reversed.
New treatment advancements explore alternatives to the need for indefinite monthly injections. The hope is that new therapies can be more convenient and enable more people to maintain more of their vision. These treatment advances include the following:
Gene Therapy
The goal of gene therapy is to provide a one-time treatment for wet AMD that helps your eye make its own anti-VEGF treatment. Of the current methods under investigation, one involves the injection of treatments under your retina in a surgical procedure. The other injects the treatment into your eye.
Port Delivery System (PDS)
The port delivery system uses a device smaller than a grain of rice to store anti-VEGF medication. It is implanted into your eye during a surgical procedure. When in place, it provides a continuous release of anti-VEGF drugs into your eye for up to two years.
Treatments Targeting Multiple Causes of Wet AMD
Injection Alternatives
Research into the use of injection alternatives may enable people to eliminate the need for frequent and inconvenient eye injections. These alternatives include eyedrops and oral tablets.
Summary
Anti-VEGF treatments are effective and can even reverse vision loss. However, these injections must be given monthly for the long term. The inconvenience can often pose a barrier to continued care and the best outcomes.
New and emerging therapies may offer ways to extend the time between treatments. This may make it easier for more people to follow through on their prescribed treatment.
26 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is macular degeneration?BrightFocus Foundation.Injections for wet macular degeneration: what you need to know.National Eye Institute.Age-related macular degeneration (AMD).American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF).Wet macular degeneration.BrightFocus Foundation.Anti-VEGF treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration.WillsEye Hospital.Wet AMD.Fleckenstein M, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, Chakravarthy U.Age-related macular degeneration: a review.JAMA. 2024;331(2):147-157. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.26074American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Macular degeneration treatments.American Society of Retina Specialists.Retinal health series: intravitreal injections.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Anti-VEGF treatments.National Eye Institute.Treatments for wet AMD (advanced neovascular AMD).BrightFocus Foundation.Can macular degeneration be reversed?Moorfields Eye Hospital.Patient information: anti-VEGF intravitreal injection treatment.Kaiser Permanente.Photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration.Medline Plus.Laser photocoagulation - eye.SightMatters.The best foods for AMD.BrightFocus Foundation.Treatments for macular degeneration.National Eye Institute.AREDS/AREDS2 frequently asked questions.Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials.Can vitamins help slow macular degeneration?American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Assistive technology for age-related macular degeneration.UCLA Health.Ask the doctors - what causes wet macular degeneration?American Academy Ophthalmology.New treatments for age-related macular degeneration.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Gene therapy for AMD.Ranade SV, Wieland MR, Tam T, et al.The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab: a new paradigm for long-acting retinal drug delivery.Drug Deliv. 2022;29(1):1326-1334. doi:10.1080/10717544.2022.2069301Nair AA, Finn AP, Sternberg Jr P.Spotlight on faricimab in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration: design, development and place in therapy.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2022;16:3395-3400. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S368963Arepalli S, Kaiser PK.Pipeline therapies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.International Journal of Retina and Vitreous. 2021;7(1):55. doi:10.1186/s40942-021-00325-5
26 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is macular degeneration?BrightFocus Foundation.Injections for wet macular degeneration: what you need to know.National Eye Institute.Age-related macular degeneration (AMD).American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF).Wet macular degeneration.BrightFocus Foundation.Anti-VEGF treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration.WillsEye Hospital.Wet AMD.Fleckenstein M, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, Chakravarthy U.Age-related macular degeneration: a review.JAMA. 2024;331(2):147-157. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.26074American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Macular degeneration treatments.American Society of Retina Specialists.Retinal health series: intravitreal injections.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Anti-VEGF treatments.National Eye Institute.Treatments for wet AMD (advanced neovascular AMD).BrightFocus Foundation.Can macular degeneration be reversed?Moorfields Eye Hospital.Patient information: anti-VEGF intravitreal injection treatment.Kaiser Permanente.Photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration.Medline Plus.Laser photocoagulation - eye.SightMatters.The best foods for AMD.BrightFocus Foundation.Treatments for macular degeneration.National Eye Institute.AREDS/AREDS2 frequently asked questions.Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials.Can vitamins help slow macular degeneration?American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Assistive technology for age-related macular degeneration.UCLA Health.Ask the doctors - what causes wet macular degeneration?American Academy Ophthalmology.New treatments for age-related macular degeneration.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Gene therapy for AMD.Ranade SV, Wieland MR, Tam T, et al.The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab: a new paradigm for long-acting retinal drug delivery.Drug Deliv. 2022;29(1):1326-1334. doi:10.1080/10717544.2022.2069301Nair AA, Finn AP, Sternberg Jr P.Spotlight on faricimab in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration: design, development and place in therapy.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2022;16:3395-3400. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S368963Arepalli S, Kaiser PK.Pipeline therapies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.International Journal of Retina and Vitreous. 2021;7(1):55. doi:10.1186/s40942-021-00325-5
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is macular degeneration?BrightFocus Foundation.Injections for wet macular degeneration: what you need to know.National Eye Institute.Age-related macular degeneration (AMD).American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF).Wet macular degeneration.BrightFocus Foundation.Anti-VEGF treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration.WillsEye Hospital.Wet AMD.Fleckenstein M, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, Chakravarthy U.Age-related macular degeneration: a review.JAMA. 2024;331(2):147-157. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.26074American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Macular degeneration treatments.American Society of Retina Specialists.Retinal health series: intravitreal injections.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Anti-VEGF treatments.National Eye Institute.Treatments for wet AMD (advanced neovascular AMD).BrightFocus Foundation.Can macular degeneration be reversed?Moorfields Eye Hospital.Patient information: anti-VEGF intravitreal injection treatment.Kaiser Permanente.Photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration.Medline Plus.Laser photocoagulation - eye.SightMatters.The best foods for AMD.BrightFocus Foundation.Treatments for macular degeneration.National Eye Institute.AREDS/AREDS2 frequently asked questions.Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials.Can vitamins help slow macular degeneration?American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Assistive technology for age-related macular degeneration.UCLA Health.Ask the doctors - what causes wet macular degeneration?American Academy Ophthalmology.New treatments for age-related macular degeneration.American Academy of Ophthalmology.Gene therapy for AMD.Ranade SV, Wieland MR, Tam T, et al.The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab: a new paradigm for long-acting retinal drug delivery.Drug Deliv. 2022;29(1):1326-1334. doi:10.1080/10717544.2022.2069301Nair AA, Finn AP, Sternberg Jr P.Spotlight on faricimab in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration: design, development and place in therapy.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2022;16:3395-3400. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S368963Arepalli S, Kaiser PK.Pipeline therapies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.International Journal of Retina and Vitreous. 2021;7(1):55. doi:10.1186/s40942-021-00325-5
American Academy of Ophthalmology.What is macular degeneration?
BrightFocus Foundation.Injections for wet macular degeneration: what you need to know.
National Eye Institute.Age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF).Wet macular degeneration.
BrightFocus Foundation.Anti-VEGF treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration.
WillsEye Hospital.Wet AMD.
Fleckenstein M, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, Chakravarthy U.Age-related macular degeneration: a review.JAMA. 2024;331(2):147-157. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.26074
American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Macular degeneration treatments.
American Society of Retina Specialists.Retinal health series: intravitreal injections.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Anti-VEGF treatments.
National Eye Institute.Treatments for wet AMD (advanced neovascular AMD).
BrightFocus Foundation.Can macular degeneration be reversed?
Moorfields Eye Hospital.Patient information: anti-VEGF intravitreal injection treatment.
Kaiser Permanente.Photodynamic therapy for age-related macular degeneration.
Medline Plus.Laser photocoagulation - eye.
SightMatters.The best foods for AMD.
BrightFocus Foundation.Treatments for macular degeneration.
National Eye Institute.AREDS/AREDS2 frequently asked questions.
Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials.Can vitamins help slow macular degeneration?
American Macular Degeneration Foundation.Assistive technology for age-related macular degeneration.
UCLA Health.Ask the doctors - what causes wet macular degeneration?
American Academy Ophthalmology.New treatments for age-related macular degeneration.
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Gene therapy for AMD.
Ranade SV, Wieland MR, Tam T, et al.The Port Delivery System with ranibizumab: a new paradigm for long-acting retinal drug delivery.Drug Deliv. 2022;29(1):1326-1334. doi:10.1080/10717544.2022.2069301
Nair AA, Finn AP, Sternberg Jr P.Spotlight on faricimab in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration: design, development and place in therapy.Drug Des Devel Ther. 2022;16:3395-3400. doi:10.2147/DDDT.S368963
Arepalli S, Kaiser PK.Pipeline therapies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.International Journal of Retina and Vitreous. 2021;7(1):55. doi:10.1186/s40942-021-00325-5
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
