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Biotech / Medical : QLT PhotoTherapeutics (QLTI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian@SI who wrote (216)	1/10/1998 6:07:00 PM
From: Michael Anthony	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1321

Yes, you are correct. The breakdown in my practice is about 80/20. But that's 20% of an extremely large population. The other nice thing is that from what I've heard from my friends in the profession is that the treatment success rate is almost 100% effective so far in trials. The thermal laser presently used for wet ARMD is destructive to tissue so some vision is compromised for the sake of buying more time for what vision is left. This QLT prodedure uses a laser similar to VISX's excimer laser for nearsightedness which is NON-thermal, therefore not damaging to surrounding tissue. The excimer can split a single blood cell into 10 equal parts. I believe the QLT system is of the same capability so it's very sensitive in it's ability to not damage surrounding tissue. This alone is quite an advance for these patients. Once the retinal tissue deteriorates, it has no hope of revival. This treatment prevents tissue damage before it happens. That's why the dry type can't be helped here. That is a whithering of tissue rather than destruction of it from a violent hemorrhage. You can prevent hemorrhaging with proper care and early detection with this procedure, but the dry type happens from within and is not related to destruction by something physical like a hemorrhage under the retina errupting through and destroying the tissue. Whether dry or wet, once the retinal tissue is compromised, it is gone for good since it is mostly nerve tissue that we are dealing with in the retina. This procedure is preventative, not curative after the fact. For those folks with dry degeneration, my heart goes out to them. All eye care professionals feel helpless when we see it. If someone ever comes up with a way to eradicate THAT, I'll sell QLTIF (at a nice profit hopefully) and put it there :)