myopic macualr degeneration

[kathleen8547]

My husband lost his vision overnight due to MMD in 1992.  We were referred to a Dr. in the Bay Area (now retired) in California.  Because the bleeding was in the center of his macula, the solution was to patch the back of the eye with a cadaver donor to relieve the pressure and to try and save it as best as possible. . During the surgery his eye hemorraged and the eye worsened.  He has always been very myopic and lives in fear of losing his one good eye.  He feels his vision is worsening and after various state of the art tests,and exams,  they do see a few suspicious vessels  around the macula,  but can't determine if the worse will happen and the drs just tell him "take your vitamins and not to worry."   Easy to say!    Do you have a referral for a retinal doctor in California that deals with his issues or is Avastin something he should look into?  You can imagine how fearful he is to tamper with his one remaining eye with injections or surgery.  Any advice would be grately appreciated. Thank you, Kathy

[flossy93]

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's difficulties.  There are several of us with MMD on this board and we understand his - and your - fears.

Can you remember what caused your husband's overnight vision loss due to MMD?  I'm very sorry this happened.  Was it due to extensive bleeding in the macula?  Did they ever say what led to the sudden bleeding event, if that's what it was?

Regarding your retina doctor request, can you tell us where you are located in California?  Not sure from your post if you are still in the Bay Area.  It would help you to look for a retina specialist within reasonable driving distance of your home.  

Who has done the recent "state of the art tests,and exams"?  Was that person a retina specialist?

If your husband does have new blood vessels beginning to grow in his 'good' eye, he may need regular retina exams to assess any changes going forward.  It's possible that Avastin or the related anti-VEGF drugs may help him, if he has active bleeding happening right now.  It's also possible he may not need injections right now, if active bleeding has stopped and there isn't evidence yet of chronic bleeding problems.  The retina specialist can tell you.

There can be other issues than bleeding in MMD which may affect the quality of his vision as well.  Some of these are quite subtle.  You are doing the right thing by trying to find a doctor who will take seriously the changes he sees now and will try hard to see if the cause can be identified.  

Let us know where you are located, and hopefully a MedHelp user will post or send you a private message with some retina specialist suggestions.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Most retinal doctors can take care of this problem.  Find a retinal specialist in your area. There are many good retinal specialist in the bay area.


Dr. O.