Optimizing Screening for Preventable Blindness With Head-Mounted Visual Assessment Technology

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness and is diagnosed as early-stage or late-stage. Early-stage AMD is usually asymptomatic and entails pigmentary changes in the retina (Ayoub & Patel, 2009). As the disorder progresses, there are atrophic or neovascular changes that distort vision, especially the central visual field (Ayoub & Patel, 2009). There are several genetic and nongenetic risk factors for AMD and no proven therapy to slow or reverse late-stage atrophic AMD, although anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) has effectively treated latestage neovascular AMD. Several genes of interest have also been investigated thoroughly thus far in their connection to AMD and the complement factor H (CFH) and age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2 (ARMS2) genes have shown promise in understanding the genetic basis of the disorder (Awh et al., 2013). There are other epigenetic and environmental factors as well including smoking and low antioxidant levels (Cano et al., 2010). Ongoing investigations include antioxidant supplementation and a smoking cessation regimen to reverse earlystage AMD (Cano et al., 2010). Progress in treating AMD as a disorder across its varied stages requires newer therapeutics along with a more detailed understanding of the genetic and cellular pathways of pathophysiology is needed to better counter this prevalent disorder of the eye.