Table 1.
Retinal diseases, current treatment strategies, and their limitations.
| Retinal Diseases | Current Treatment Strategies | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and ischemic retinopathy (IR) |
Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF * | Complexities and treatment burden (monthly visits) associated with multiple intravitreal injections and treatment non-responders [7,8,9] |
| Laser photocoagulation | Causes permanent damage to the retinal cells, can leave scotomas/blind spots [7,10] | |
| Vitrectomy | Surgical and anesthesia risks, post-operative infection/inflammation or retinal detachment [7,11] | |
| Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) | Lutein + zeaxanthin | Daily administration may lead to adherence problems, cost can be a concern [12] |
| Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF | Risk and treatment burden associated with multiple intravitreal injections [9] | |
| Photodynamic therapy | Limited efficacy [13] | |
| Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) |
Cryotherapy and laser photocoagulation | Cornea, iris, and lens burns, hyphema [14] |
| Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF | Complexities associated with multiple intravitreal injections and retinal detachment [9,14,15] | |
| Vitrectomy | Vitreous or subretinal hemorrhage [16] | |
| Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) |
Pre-retinal membrane removal or retinal reattachment surgery | Reoccurrence of retinal fibrosis [17] |
| No treatment available, gene therapy and stem cell therapy are under investigation | Issues related to viral gene therapy. Direct administration of stem cells may have difficulty with integration [18] |
* VEGF—Vascular endothelial growth factor.