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An American eye surgeon and Professor has recently announced an important opthalmic breakthrough for patients with vitreomacular adhesion,a disease that affects the retina. They will hopefully in the future no longer need surgery as treatment. Instead a straight forward intraviteal injection of an enzyme called ocriplasmin will be sufficient for treating the eye disease.
The ocriplasmin injection will loosen the vitreous from the eyes retina thereby enabling a definitive cure without the need for surgery.
The clinical studies focusing on this development have taken place over a number of years and were commissioned by the Leuven company ThromboGenics, a spin-off of the Company KU Leuven. Originally the enzyme was being studies as a means to soften the vitreous to assist in vitrectomy surgery. It was found that patients were fully recovering from their symptoms after the enzyme has been injected so further treatment in the form of invasive surgery was no longer necessary.
The astounding effect was observed in patients with vitreomacular adhesion and also macular holes, that are two eye diseases caused by the vitreous pulling at the macula, the most sensitive part of the retina. This causes blurry vision and can actually cause holes to form in the retina as well. Surgery, up to now, has been the only way to cure the conditions.
It is estimated that almost a half million people worldwide could benefit annually from this new enzyme treatment. Most sufferers are in the post age group.
Results of a study in patients worldwide have demonstrated that the enzyme treatment is clinically effective and it is hoped that it will be put into regular use within the year once approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.