HBOT - Ophthalmology, Macular Degeneration

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a primary or adjuvant therapeutic method used in treatment of various acute or chronic disorders. Currently, eye diseases are among the off-label use of hyperbaric oxygen. However, there is an increasing body of evidence showing its safety and efficacy in retinal artery occlusion, cystoid macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion, scleral thinning and necrosis faced after pterygium surgery, orbital rhino-cerebral mucormycosis, nonhealing corneal edema, and anterior segment ischemia. Its potential to treat some blinding disease has also been pointed out in recent studies.

Professionals from the Retina Associates of South Florida tested to effectiveness of HBOT on 14 patients who were suffering from AMD. After a 1-hour session, researchers found that participants experienced significant improvements to their visual fields.

This article constitutes an up-to-date summary of knowledge and therapeutic use of hyperbaric oxygen, and aims to contribute understanding of current and potential use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in ophthalmology.

Dr. Robert Rowen, editor of 2nd Opinion Newsletter, mentions a report by Drs. Jansen and Nielson from Copenhagen, Denmark, which details two case histories of ARMD patients improving with HBOT. Both patients had cystoid macular degeneration. One patient, a type-2 diabetic, went from a visual acuity of 0.5 (difficulty reading), to 1.0, where he could read normally, with just one treatment. The second patient’s visual acuity was only 0.2; he could not read at all. After five sessions of HBOT in three days, his acuity was 0.9, where he could read normally. These Denmark doctors saw a “very rapid,” day-by-day improvement in the macula and recommend that treatment be started as early as possible, before there is irreversible damage.

Hyperbaric Oxygenation in the Treatment of Macular Degeneration. 

Split, Yugoslavia: Split Naval Medical Institute, pp. 1-4. Bojic L.

Dr. L. Bojic treated 4 patients with advanced macular degeneration and severe vision loss in a clinical trail with HBOT. Three of the four patients experienced a doubling of visual acuity after HBOT. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and age-related macular degeneration.

Undersea Hyperb Med. 2010 Sep-Oct;37(5):375;

Weiss JN.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a significant cause of visual loss in the United States and Western Europe. As the population ages, the prevalence rate of advanced AMD is expected to double by 2030. A one-hour session of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2) was used to treated a group of 14 patients with advanced AMD. Eight patients were treated at 1.75 ATA, and six patients were treated at 1.5 ATA for one hour. Significant improvements in visual acuity and/or visual field, with improvements in the activities of daily living were observed.

Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2004 Aug;82(4):485-6.

Promising visual improvement of cystoid macular oedema by hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Jansen EC, Nielsen NV.

Ophthalmic Surg Lasers. 2002 May-Jun;33(3):200-6.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy reduces visual field defect after macular hole surgery.

Kurok AM, Kitaoka T, Taniguchi H, Amemiya T.

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki City, Japan.