SCOPE

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness among elderly in the industrialised world, affecting more than 35 million people globally. AMD presents as a progressive loss of vision in the centre of the visual field resulting in a blurred area or blank spot in the centre of vision. With ageing, AMD progresses to an advanced stage becoming increasingly difficult for patients to recognise faces, drive read and/or perform other activities of daily life. The overall UK prevalence of AMD is 2.4% with a sharp age related increase in occurrence of 4.8% of people over 65 and as many as 12.2% over 80 years of age. This is a natural history study in genetically defined patients with geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It is expected that approximately 350 patients with AMD will be recruited globally, across North America and Europe. This study consists of 6 visits over approximately 96 weeks, where they will undergo assessments and procedures to assess the natural progression of the disease.