Wet Macular Degeneration no longer causes permanent blindness in everyone

A study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins and published in the online version of Ophthalmology¬†reports that monthly injections of ranibizumab help wet AMD patients keep their driver's licenses longer. The two-year study evaluated 1,126 wet AMD patients and utilized a NEI Visual Function Questionnaire to measure their driving ability, perception and self-reported driving status in two separate studies. Monthly assessments were also conducted over the two-year period as well. Patients who received the ranibizumab injections were compared to those who received sham injections in one of the studies while the second study looked at the result of ranibizumab injections compared to laser therapy. What researchers discovered when they evaluated the results of the studies was that 85 percent of participants in the ranibizumab versus. sham study and 88 percent of those in the ranibizumab versus laser therapy study read the eye chart better and had the level of vision needed for an unrestricted license and greater confidence in their driving ability. The two studies were not designed to directly determine the impact of ranibizumab on driving and more research is needed to determine whether driving skills or driving safety are actually maintained or improved and if they correlate with what patients reported on their questionnaires.*