Bleeding in the retina, no matter what the primary cause, can cause devastating vision loss. Conditions like diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and retinal vein occlusions can all cause bleeding from abnormal leaky blood vessel growth.
A class of medications called anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents reduce the growth of abnormal blood vessels, slow the leakage of fluid from these vessels, and slow vision loss. Avastin, Lucentis, and Eylea are available for the treatment of the wet form of macular degeneration, advanced diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion.
Steroid medications can also be injected into the eye in certain cases to decrease inflammation and swelling in the retina.
These injections are performed in our office and require dilation of the pupil. It is common for repeated treatments to be needed to control these diseases.