Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is usually seen after age 60. The disease is usually bilateral and affects the macula, which is the central portion of the retina. Patients with AMD complain of progressive vision loss, especially for reading. In the atrophic form, visual reduction proceeds very slowly over the years. In the wet form, on the contrary, visual reduction may occur rapidly and manifest with distorted and deformed images. In the final stages of the disease, a macular scar may form that tends to irreversibly obscure the central portion of the visual field preventing patients from reading and recognizing faces.
