MedGen

In 10 to 15 percent of affected individuals, the dry form progresses to the wet form of age-related macular degeneration. The wet form is characterized by the growth of abnormal, fragile blood vessels underneath the macula. These vessels leak blood and fluid, which damages the macula and makes central vision appear blurry and distorted. The wet form of age-related macular degeneration is associated with severe vision loss that can worsen rapidly.

Researchers have described two major types of age-related macular degeneration, known as the dry form and the wet form. The dry form is much more common, accounting for 85 to 90 percent of all cases of age-related macular degeneration. It is characterized by a buildup of yellowish deposits called drusen beneath the retina and vision loss that worsens slowly over time. The most advanced stage of dry age-related macular degeneration is known as geographic atrophy, in which areas of the macula waste away (atrophy), resulting in severe vision loss. Dry age-related macular degeneration typically affects vision in both eyes, although vision loss often occurs in one eye before the other.

Age-related macular degeneration mainly affects central vision, which is needed for detailed tasks such as reading, driving, and recognizing faces. The vision loss in this condition results from a gradual deterioration of light-sensing cells in the tissue at the back of the eye that detects light and color (the retina). Specifically, age-related macular degeneration affects a small area near the center of the retina, called the macula, which is responsible for central vision. Side (peripheral) vision and night vision are generally not affected, but slow adjustment of vision to darkness (dark adaptation) and reduced dim light (scotopic) vision often occur in the early stages of the disease.

Age-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that is a leading cause of vision loss in older people in developed countries. Subtle abnormalities indicating changes in vision may occur in a person's forties or fifties. Distorted vision and vision loss usually become noticeable in a person's sixties or seventies and tend to worsen over time. [from MedlinePlus Genetics]

The complement system is a set of plasma proteins that serves as an effector of several biologic functions associated with inflammation, immunoregulation, and cytotoxicity. Deficiency of complement component-2 (C2D) is the most common defect of the complement system in persons of western European descent. In type I C2 deficiency, no C2 protein is translated; in type II, there is a selective block in C2 secretion. More than half of individuals with homozygous C2 deficiency have rheumatologic disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, or polymyositis. Other individuals experience recurrent pyogenic infections, and some C2-deficient individuals are asymptomatic (summary by Johnson et al., 1992, Wetsel et al., 1996). [from OMIM]