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Previous Volume 355:1474-1485 October 5, 2006 Number 14 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text PowerPoint Slide Set Purchase this article Perspective by Steinbrook, R. Editorial by Stone, E. M. Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited E-mail When Letters Appear PubMed Citation

Since 1874, when it was first described in the medical literature as "symmetrical central choroido-retinal disease occurring in senile persons,"¹ age-related macular degeneration has also been referred to as senile, or diskiform, macular degeneration, among many other terms. About 25 years ago, the term "age-related maculopathy" was coined and its end stage was acknowledged as age-related macular degeneration. In this review, I use the commonly accepted age-related macular degeneration, although I have reservations about its appropriateness. After briefly describing the clinical features of age-related macular degeneration, I turn to the physiology of the aging macula and to mechanisms implicated in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Clinical Signs and Symptoms

The Outer Retina and Adjacent Tissues

The Retinal Pigment Epithelium

            Phagocytosis by RPE Cells

            Lipofuscin and A2E

            Chromophores

Bruch's Membrane

Ruysch's Complex

Mechanisms

Genetics

Smoking

Light-Induced Toxic Effects

Converging Risk Factors

A Final Note on Nomenclature

Source Information

From the Department of Ophthalmogenetics, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam; the Department of Ophthalmology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam; and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam — all in the Netherlands.

Address reprint requests to Dr. de Jong at the Department of Ophthalmogenetics, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, KNAW, Meibergdreef 47, 1105 BA Amsterdam, the Netherlands, or at p.dejong@nin.knaw.nl.

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