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1307 INTRODUCTION Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive neu- rodegenerative disease of photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) characterized by extracellular deposits under the retina or RPE that can evolve to atrophy of the retina, RPE and choroid and neovascularization in the choroid and/or ret- ina. It is the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment Choroidal Vascular/Bruch’s Membrane Disease SECTION 3 64 Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Age-Related Macular Degeneration Johanna M. Seddon, Lucia Sobrin, Samaneh Davoudi in older populations, despite recent advances in treatments.1–3 Although neovascular (NV) AMD may be controlled with anti- angiogenic intravitreal injections, many treated patients still have residual visual disability because of varying degrees of reti- nal tissue disruption, atrophy, and scarring. The advanced dry form with geographic atrophy (GA) has no known treatment. AMD can cause an extensive decline in the quality of life and increase the need for daily living assistance, forcing many individuals in their retirement years to lose their indepen- dence. This leads to increased health resource utilization and a high socie...