Maculopathy refers to the eye disease that affects the macula, i.e. the area located in the center of the retina and which serves for distinct central vision (also for reading this text, as well as for recognizing faces, driving, etc. ). In the center of the macula there is the fovea with a retinal depression where the foveola is located, the thinnest area in which only the cones are present.
The latter are photoreceptors – i.e. cells capable of transforming light signals into bioelectric impulses – also responsible for the perception of colors (unlike rods, abundant in the retinal periphery, which are used to perceive shapes and movement in low light conditions) . Maculopathy should not be underestimated because age-related maculopathy represents the leading cause of blindness in industrialized countries.
And given that the course of the disease is rather slow at the beginning and this aspect delays diagnosis, increasing the possibility of degenerating into more severe forms, all health initiatives in the area to immediately recognize the serious pathology must be welcomed. In fact, the clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of maculopathies with intravitreal therapies has been activated on the Madonie Mountains at the Madonna dell’Alto Hospital in Petralia Sottana.
The activity is managed by the hospital’s Ophthalmology Service and is part of the project of the specialist centers of the Palermo ASP. The team (in the photo) led by the medical director of ophthalmology, Valeria Incognito, assisted by the orthoptist, Annamaria Di Baudo, has already successfully treated the first cases with intravitreal injections. “Patients suffering from exudative senile maculopathy, diabetic maculopathy and vascular maculopathy can access the clinic” specifies Incognito.
