NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- May 2, 2008 -- Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of blindness in Americans over age 60. As baby boomers age, many more will be faced with this condition that affects the central vision needed for reading, driving and seeing fine detail.
Physicians at Baptist Hospital are taking part in a clinical trial for a new treatment of the "wet" form of macular degeneration which accounts for more rapid and severe vision loss. The "wet" form of AMD results when abnormal blood vessels (CNV) form beneath the macula, which is the central part of the retina, and leak fluid or blood, ultimately destroying central vision.
The CABERNET (CNV secondary to AMD treatment with Beta Radiation Epiretinal Therapy) clinical trial is a randomized, controlled study of the NeoVista Ophthalmic System which utilizes a combination treatment of surgery and radiation to treat "wet" AMD. Surgery involves insetting a slender probe into the eye to position a tiny radioactive seed over the macula. This delivers tightly focused radiation to the abnormal blood vessels beneath the macula. The surgeon stabilizes the tip of the probe over the macula for approximately five minutes, delivering a carefully calculated dose of radiation to the CNV. The probe is then removed from the eye and the surgeon then administers an injection of Lucentis®, a recently-approved drug which inhibits abnormal blood vessel growth.
Ophthalmologists and nuclear medicine specialists at Baptist Hospital are the first to perform the procedure in Tennessee.
"Normally, we treat wet AMD with monthly injections of Lucentis or Avastin," said Dr. Peter L. Sonkin, an ophthalmologist at Baptist Hospital and a partner of Tennessee Retina, who is a principal investigator for the trial. :This new approach, using a very concentrated dose of radiation to the blood vessels, could help patients get a result that is quicker, more cost effective and easier on the patient overall."
"Wet" AMD is typically treated with monthly eye injections that can be expensive.
"The particular advantage of this approach is that a single surgical procedure, combined with a single Lucentis injection, may prove to be as effective as monthly injections of Lucentis," said Dr. Carl C. Awh, a study investigator who is also an ophthalmologist at Baptist Hospital and managing partner of Retina Vitreous Associates. "This would be tremendously helpful to patients, in terms of fewer office visits and injections, and valuable to society by eliminating much of the cost of repeated injections. Few things are as devastating to patients and their families as blindness from AMD. We are fortunate to have a number of effective treatments for this condition and are excited by the possibility of even better outcomes in the future."
Dr. Awh is a member of the Medical Advisory Board to NeoVista, Inc.
NeoVista, Inc., which produces the radiation probe, hopes to garner approval from the Food and Drug Administration by 2010. The treatment is only available to patients through an FDA-approved clinical research trial. The company plans to begin overseas distribution of the technology in the latter part of 2008.
Baptist Hospital is a member of Saint Thomas Health Services, a faith-based ministry with more than 8,000 associates serving Middle Tennessee. Saint Thomas Health Services' regional health system consists of four hospitals -- Baptist and Saint Thomas Hospitals in Nashville, Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro and Hickman Community Hospital in Centerville -- and a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures in diagnostics, cardiac services and ambulatory surgery as well as medical practices, the Center for Spinal Surgery, clinics and rehabilitation facilities. STHS is a member of Ascension Health, a Catholic organization that is the largest not-for-profit health system in the United States. For more information, visit www.baptisthospital.com or www.sths.com.
Contact: Kristi Gooden, PR Director, Baptist Hospital, Ph: 615/284-5446, Fax: 615/284-4491, kristi.gooden@baptisthospital.com
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