Dr. Jordi Monés explains at LIGHT 2017 the new hypothesis in geographic atrophy developed by the BMF

Dr Jordi Monés chaired the programme at the Annual Meeting of the International Retinal Laser Society (LASER), which was held last Wednesday prior to EURETINA 2017. After welcoming the specialists from all over the world who had gathered for LIGHT 2017, the Director of the BMF and the Institut de la Màcula set out the new hypothesis in the development of geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced stage of atrophic AMD. The study entitled Drusen ooze: A novel hypothesis for age-related geographic atrophy, would explain how drusen ooze could activate the apical surface of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), exceeding its capacity to maintain the environment of photoreceptors, leading to the death of RPE through pyroptosis and necroptosis. This would be followed by the continuous, uncontrolled release of intracellular material, which would activate the neighbouring RPE cells still further, would propagate cell death and would promote GA progression as a vicious cell-to-cell circle. The finding forms part of the research undertaken in the European EYE RISK project.