Silver Book Fact
Treatment of patients with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) implants resulted in stabilization of visual acuity. A sub-group analysis found that 100% of patients receiving a high-dose lost <15 letters of acuity–compared with 55.6% in the combined low-dose/sham group. The high-dose group had a 0.6 mean letter gain while the low-dose/sham group had a mean 9.7 letter loss.
Zhang K, Hopkins J, Heier J, Birch D, et al. Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor Delievered by Encapsulated Cell Intraocular Implants for Treatment of Geographic Atrophy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration. PNAS. 2011; 108(15). http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/03/24/1018987108