docet

Key Points

• Amyloid is a potentially useful biomarker found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease that has become an important target for drug development with clinical trials being carried out, but results have not yet been favourable.
• The link between drusen and the disease was first discovered when post-mortem Alzheimer's retinas revealed deposits that had been not been noted until after flattening of the cadaver eyes. Research was then directed at whether wide field imaging could be successfully used to visualise the lesions in vivo.
• Research has continued to investigate the prevalence of such peripheral deposits in the ageing eye and any potential link with Alzheimer’s.
• The first peripheral retinal imaging biomarker study for Alzheimer's disease was published in 2018, which also included a two year follow up. The studies showed reproducible differences between controls and patients when the number and the extent of drusen deposits was analysed.