The year in review, with our friends from Modern Retina
Hot topics around the globe, from clinical trials to the solar eclipse
Our colleagues at Modern Retina help us wrap up 2024. Image credit: ©vexworldwide – stock.adobe.com
To close out the year, we are showcasing top content from our colleagues at Ophthalmology Times, Modern Retina, and Optometry Times. Watch the Ophthalmology Times Europe website all week for the year's top stories from the Eye Care Network.
In 2024, Modern Retina covered news from around the globe on clinical trials, technology in retina, trending topics in ophthalmology, and retina conferences. Let’s look back on some of the top stories of the year as we gear up for an incredible 2025.
GA and AMD
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and geographic atrophy (GA) continue to be major areas of development as researchers seek solutions to preventing vision loss and the hope to reverse the damage caused by these conditions. In our first issue of 2024, Jeremiah Brown Jr, MD, wrote about the attention to imaging needed to detect the early signs of GA. He shared OCT images noting the signs of early GA and how the tools that we have today can help ophthalmologists detect diseases before significant vision loss has occurred.
Technology in retina
In the Modern Retina’s summer issue, Sheri Rowen, MD, FACS, focused on the technology and advancements that are allowing patients with AMD to maintain their sense of independence and quality of life. Among these, we see examples of augmented reality headsets, text-to-speech and voice activation features, and the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) elements into many of the commercially available low vision devices. These headsets are another innovation that empower patients and show the continued drive to serve patients in the field of ophthalmology.
Understanding ophthalmology patients
While clinical trials continue to lead the discussions of how best to treat patients, the social and economic factors that affect patients can have notable influence on whether or not a patient can access new and approved treatments. In the fall 2024 issue of Modern Retina, a team of residents from Baylor College of Medicine provided us with a detailed look at the social factors associated with diabetic retinopathy visit adherence. Their article explored the reasons that patients are lost to follow-up and note areas where social systems inhibited treatment visits.
Inherited retinal diseases
One of the areas of research where clinical trials have taken major steps forward in 2024 is the research surrounding inherited retinal diseases. As gene therapy research continues to advance, these genetic conditions are reaching significant milestones with phase 2 and phase 3 trials underway and results expected to continue to be released in 2025.
Stargardt disease has several candidates in trial stages, including gildeuretinol, OCU410ST, tinlarebant. Similarly, retinitis pigmentosa has also been a focus of several candidates in the clinical trial stages. A few candidates to watch in the new year include, laru-zova (AGTC-501), MCO-010, and SKG1108.
Total solar eclipse 2024
While it might feel like it was years ago, not just months, one of the major events of 2024 was the total solar eclipse that passed through many states on the eastern half of the US. With the concerns around the proper protective eye wear and the risk of solar retinopathy, Modern Retina joined the conversation around safety during this event.
In an interview with Nicole Bajic, MD, from the Cole Eye Institute at Cleveland Clinic shared her insights in preparing patients for the eclipse, as Cleveland, Ohio was in the path of totality, making this information crucial at a local and national level as thousands of travelers visited the city to watch this astronomical event.
Modern Retina also spoke with Durga Borkar, MD, MMCi, Verana Medical Advisor, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine.She provided insights as to the impact the last solar eclipse had on ophthalmology during her time in fellowship and how solar retinopathy cases might present in clinic following the event.
Read the interview with Borkar.
Conference coverage
Among the conferences Modern Retina covered in 2024, the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) 2024 Annual Meeting sent the retina community journeying to Stockholm, Sweden. This international event connected ASRS members as they shared important results from clinical trials and discussed the research being conducted worldwide to solve some of retinas most damaging diseases.
The conversations and interviews as this meeting highlighted for us key players to watch as 2025 promises to be data-focused and has the potential for several key trial results that may lead to novel or next-generation treatments.
