Research progress of macular degeneration in combination of geographic atrophy and choroidal neovascularization

Geographic atrophy (GA) and choroidal neovascularization (CNV) are the major factors contributing to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is considered to be two different pathological changes, severely affects the patient's vision. However, in clinical practice, it has been found that both GA and CNV changes can occur in one eye of patients, and GA often appears earlier than CNV. It verrucous warts or subretinal verrucous deposits may present during fundus examination and imaging examination, and no characteristic changes or genetic markers could be diagnosed as GA/CNV. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) has been widely recognized for the treatment of CNV, but some studies have shown that anti-VEGF treatment can increase the incidence of GA, leading to the occurrence of GA/CNV. In this article, the epidemiology, clinical manifestations and treatment of monocular GA/CNV were reviewed in order to provide theoretical basis for its diagnosis and treatment.