Geographic Atrophy (GA) is an advanced form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that affects cells in the retina and leads to permanent vision loss. GA is characterized by localized sharply demarcated atrophy of outer retinal tissue, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and choriocapillaris. It starts typically in the perifoveal region and expands to involve the fovea with time, leading to central scotomas and permanent loss of visual acuity. GA is bilateral in most cases, and if you have GA in one eye, you are more likely to develop it in the other eye.

There may be no symptoms in the early stages until the disease progresses or affects both eyes. Vision changes due to GA may include difficulty seeing in the center of your vision, which is needed for reading, crafts, cooking, recognizing faces, and driving, numbers or letters disappearing or missing when reading, a dim or dark spot in your central or near-central (side) vision, trouble seeing in dim light, needing extra light to read, and dull or washed-out colors. GA can cause loss of vision, and for some, loss of vision can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, and loss of independence. Not everyone who has vision loss will experience depression or anxiety. Some individuals may notice a change in their desire to socialize with others, or increased frustration with the additional time it may take to accomplish tasks of daily living.

If you think you may have GA, talk to your doctor. A doctor like an ophthalmologist, optometrist, or eye surgeon will give you a full eye exam and test for GA. They may take images of your retina, look for changes in your macula, which is at the back of your eye, and look for yellow deposits under your retina, which are called drusen. They may also look for a patch of your retina that’s missing the normal dark melanin pigment, which shows it’s GA. Imaging tests that may be used include fundus photographs and optical coherence tomography (OCT) .