Age Related Macular Degeneration - Longterm Disease of 12 Years

This patient was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) in 2006. Over the course of 12 years, her visual acuity declined from 20/25 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left to 20/80 and 20/50, respectively. Since 2006, she has had one laser procedure and two intravitreal Avastin injections to her right eye for choroidal neovascularization. In her most current fundus photos, advanced geographic atrophy is visible in both eyes (yellow arrows) extending from the disc out to the macula and wrapping around the fovea. The light color is due to the loss of melanin-containing retinal pigment epithelial cells over time. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans also show areas of retinal pigment epithelial atrophy with increased transmission of the illuminating light into the choroid (white and green arrows).