Retinal Diseases Fact Sheet

Mar 16, 2018

Retinal Diseases Fact Sheet

Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (Wet AMD)

Prevalence

  • Approximately 90 percent of all AMD-related severe vision loss results from wet AMD1
  • 11 million Americans have some form of AMD, while 1.1 million, or 10 percent, of those Americans have wet AMD1, 2
  • About 200,000 new cases of wet AMD are diagnosed each year in the United States3

Risks

  • Risk for wet AMD increases for people over age 604
  • Women tend to be at greater risk than men, and Caucasians are more likely to develop AMD than other races5
  • Similarly, smoking, obesity and family history could also increase a person’s risk of developing wet AMD5

Symptoms

  • Sudden blurred vision6
  • Difficulty seeing at a distance or doing detailed work1
  • Blind spots develop in the middle of the field of vision6
  • Colors become hard to distinguish6
  • Edges and straight lines appear wavy6

Diabetic Retinopathy

Prevalence

  • Diabetic retinopathy impacts nearly 7.7 million Americans. The number is expected to increase to 11.3 million by 20307
  • Between 40 and 45 percent of Americans diagnosed with diabetes have some stage of diabetic retinopathy8
  • Diabetic retinopathy can lead to conditions that threaten vision loss, including diabetic macular edema (DME) and advanced disease, both of which may lead to vision loss8

Risks

  • All people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes are at risk8
  • The longer a person has diabetes, especially if it is poorly controlled, the higher the risk for developing diabetic retinopathy8
  • People with a history of high blood pressure and atherosclerosis are at an increased risk for developing diabetic retinopathy9

Symptoms

  • In its early stages, diabetic retinopathy is often without noticeable symptoms8
  • As the disease progresses, symptoms may include blurred vision and loss of contrast10
  • Symptoms may also include patches of vision loss, which may appear as small black dots or lines "floating" across the front of the eye10

Diabetic Macular Edema (DME)

Prevalence

  • DME is a type of DR that is a leading cause of vision loss for people with diabetes11
  • Approximately 745,000 people in the U.S. have DME12
  • Approximately 55 percent are unaware they have DME13

Risks

  • All people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes are at risk for DME8
  • The risk for developing DME is closely associated with the length of time a patient has lived with diabetes and the severity of the diabetic retinopathy8,14
  • People with a history of high blood pressure and atherosclerosis are at an increased risk for developing DME9

Symptoms

  • Blurred vision10
  • Loss of contrast10
  • Patches of vision loss, which may appear as small black dots or lines "floating" across the front of the eye10

Retinal Vein Occlusion (RVO)

Prevalence

  • RVO affects more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. and is the second-most common cause of vision loss due to retinal vascular disease15
  • An estimated 870,000 people are affected by branch-RVO, while approximately 305,000 people are affected by central-RVO15

Risks

  • RVO typically affects people over age 50, and the incidence increases with age16,17
  • People with a history of high blood pressure, diabetes and atherosclerosis are at an increased risk for developing RVO18

Symptoms

  • Sudden blurring or vision loss in all or part of one eye19,20
  • Temporary loss of central vision (less frequent)19,21
  • Visual disturbance centrally or peripherally19,20

Myopic Choroidal Neovascularization (mCNV)

Prevalence

  • mCNV is a severe, vision-threatening complication of pathological myopia, or severe nearsightedness22
  • More than 41,000 people in the U.S. have mCNV23
  • Approximately 30 percent of people with mCNV in one eye will develop mCNV in their other eye within 8 years22

Risks

  • Most commonly, people between the ages of 45 and 64 years old are at risk for developing mCNV23
  • Women are at a higher risk of developing mCNV compared to men23
  • mCNV is more common in people of East Asian descent24
  • People who already have pathological myopia23

Symptoms

  • A rapid progression of central vision loss (within a day or a few weeks)24
  • Blurred vision24
  • Distortion of object and lines24
  • Difficulty distinguishing between colors24
1 Bright Focus Foundation. Macular Degeneration Essential Facts. Available at: http://www.brightfocus.org/macular/news/macular-essential-facts#. Accessed October 2, 2015. 2 American Academy of Ophthalmology. What Is Macular Degeneration? Available at: http://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/amd-macular-degeneration. Accessed November 21, 2016. 3 Macular Degeneration Partnership. What is Macular Degeneration? Available at: http://www.amd.org/what-is-amd.html. Accessed November 21, 2016. 4 National Eye Institute. Facts about Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Available at: https://nei.nih.gov/health/maculardegen/armd_facts. Accessed October 2, 2015. 5 Bright Focus Foundation. Macular Degeneration Prevention and Risk Factors. Available at: http://www.brightfocus.org/macular/prevention-and-risk-factors. Accessed October 2, 2015. 6 Kellogg Eye Center. AMD. Available at: http://www.kellogg.umich.edu/patientcare/conditions/amd.html. Accessed October 2, 2015. 7 National Eye Institute. Eye Disease Factsheet. Available at: https://nei.nih.gov/sites/default/files/nei-pdfs/NEI_Eye_Disease_Statistics_Factsheet_2014_V10.pdf. Accessed October 2, 2015. 8 National Eye Institute. Facts About Diabetic Eye Disease. Available at: https://nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy. Accessed October 2, 2015. 9 Popescu T, Pritulescu C, Mota M. Possible Correlation between Diabetic Retinopathy and Atherosclerosis in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Current Health Sciences. 2009;35. 10 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Diabetic Retinopathy Symptoms. Available at: http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/diseases/diabetic-retinopathy/symptoms.cfm. Accessed October 2, 2015. 11 American Academy of Ophthalmology. What is Diabetic Retinopathy? Available at: http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/diseases/diabetic-retinopathy/index.cfm. Accessed October 2, 2015. 12 Bressler NM, Varma R, Doan Q, et al. Underuse of the Health Care System by Persons With Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetic Macular Edema in the United States. JAMA Ophthalmology. 2014 Feb;132(2):168-73. 13 Bressler NM, Varma R, Doan Q, et al. Prevalence of Visual Impairment from Diabetic Macular Edema and Relationship to Eye Care from the 2005 − 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) [abstract]. The Retina Society 45th Annual Scientific Meetings, Washington, DC; October 4−7, 2012 (accepted for presentation). 14 Lighthouse International. Diabetic Retinopathy Overview. Available at: http://li129-107.members.linode.com/about-low-vision-blindness/vision-disorders/diabetic-retinopathy/diabetic-retinopathy-overview/. Accessed October 2, 2015. 15 Genentech data on file (Based on population-based studies/the Beaver Dam Eye Study 2000 and 2008 and the United States Census) 16 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Who Is At Risk for Central Retinal Vein Occlusion? Available at: http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/diseases/central-retinal-vein-occlusion-risk.cfm. Accessed October 2, 2015. 17 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Who Is At Risk for Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion? Available at: http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/diseases/branch-retinal-vein-occlusion-risk.cfm. Accessed October 2, 2015. 18 Petr Kolar. Risk Factors for Central and Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: A Meta-Analysis of Published Clinical Data. Journal of Ophthalmology. 2014. doi:10.1155/2014/724780 19 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion Symptoms. Available at: http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/diseases/branch-retinal-vein-occlusion-symptoms.cfm. Accessed October 2, 2015. 20 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Central Retinal Vein Occlusion Symptoms. Available at: http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/diseases/central-retinal-vein-occlusion-symptoms.cfm. Accessed October 2, 2015. 21 Review of Ophthalmology. Evaluation and Management Of Retinal Vein Occlusion. Available at: http://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/content/d/wills_resident_case_series/d/1213/p/22849/c/25432/#sthash.GRmmXci4.dpuf. Accessed October 2, 2015. 22 Ohno-Matsui K, Yoshida T, et al. Patchy atrophy and lacquer cracks predispose to the development of choroidal neovascularisation in pathological myopia. Br J Ophthalmol 2003;87:570–573 23 Willis J, Vitale S, et al. The Prevalence of Myopic Choroidal Neovascularization in the United States Ophthalmology, 2016;123:1771-1782. 24 National Eye Institute. Facts About Myopia. Available at: https://nei.nih.gov/health/errors/myopia. Accessed June 16, 2016.
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