When Macular Drusen Become ‘Black Holes’
Do you have macular drusen? If you do, and they start to disappear, you might think this is good news.
It’s not!
Here’s what happens.
When you have the little yellow lumps called drusen on the macula in your eye, they may enlarge or merge with others. They may also gradually disappear. This is because of atrophy, or loss of tissue.
Cells in the RPE (retinal pigment epithelium) wear thin, lose pigment and then die. Light-sensitive cone cells in the retina (and macula) are no longer properly supported and nourished, so they die too. With atrophy, macular drusen then gradually disappear. They leave behind round areas where the RPE cells and cone cells have died.
An optometrist looking into your eye will be able to see straight through these round spots to the large blood vessels in the choroid. It’s like looking through a window in the retinal pigment layer.
To you, these holes appear as blank spots in your central vision.
If these areas spread, with more retinal depigmentation, it’s called "geographic atrophy".
Further to this, new ("abnormal") veins may grow up into these areas, causing ‘wet’ macular degeneration.
Protect the health of your macula. Eye vitamins can help prevent and treat macular drusen.
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