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Fear of Vision Loss

Patients with GA fear missing out on important life events and losing their independence.2,3

Patients Suffer From

Distorted vision, scotoma, and photopsia4,5

Distorted vision, scotoma, and photopsia4,5

Central field defect4


Central field defect4

Vision loss5

Vision loss5

Which Leads to Patients Worrying About

Missing meaningful life events3,6,7

Missing meaningful life events3,6,7

Being unable to complete everyday tasks1,7

Being unable to complete everyday tasks1,7

Loss of independence 
(eg, difficulty driving)1,7

Loss of independence (eg, difficulty driving)1,7

Patients Lose More Than Just Vision

Report difficulty reading1

Report difficulty reading1

Lose their confidence driving at night7


Lose their confidence driving at night7

Of those with bilateral GA lose their ability to drive within 1.6 years from diagnosis2*

Of those with bilateral GA lose their ability to drive within 1.6 years from diagnosis2*

Visual Acuity ≠ Visual Function

Early diagnosis of GA is critical, as anatomical changes precede visual acuity or visual function changes.8

Visual Acuity ≠ Visual Function

GA progression is not always correlated with visual acuity, and changes in visual function can occur even before a decline in visual acuity.8,9

Monitoring for GA must go beyond BCVA tests alone, which makes functional assessments of vision critical when determining impact on patients. These include: contrast sensitivity, LLVA, dark adaptation, and microperimetry.8,9

The Complement System

The Complement System

has emerged as a research target for the treatment of GA.13,14

*Findings from a UK retrospective cohort analysis with patients with visual acuity (VA) follow-up. The patients were eligible to drive at baseline according to the UK driving standard (VA measure >70 letters or Snellen 6/12 [US Snellen 20/40] in the better-seeing eye) but lost their vision progressively making them ineligible to drive; 1.6 years represents the median (0.7-2.7 years).3

References:

  1. 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.

  2. Bakri SJ, Bektas M, Sharp D, et al. Geographic atrophy: mechanism of disease, pathophysiology, and role of the complement system. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2023;29(5-aSuppl):S2-S11.

  3. 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.

  4. Stahl A. The diagnosis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2020;117(29-30):513-520.

  5. Flaxel CJ, Adelman RA, Bailey ST, et al. Age-Related Macular Degeneration Preferred Practice Pattern®. Ophthalmology. 2019;127(1):P1-P65.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. Meleth AD, Pradeep M, Agrón E, et al. Changes in retinal sensitivity in geographic atrophy progression as measured by microperimetry. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52(2):1119-1126.

  13. Boyer DS, Schmidt-Erfuth 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.

  14. Xu H, Chen M. Targeting the complement system for the management of retinal inflammatory and degenerative diseases. Eur J Pharmacol. 2016;787:94-104.