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MacTel is a disorder of the blood vessels which supply the
macula, the central part of the retina that lines the back of the eye and
picks up the light like the film in a camera. The “fovea,” in the center of the
macula, has no blood vessels at all because they would interfere with
central vision. MacTel refers to a curious, very poorly understood condition
of the blood vessels around the fovea (juxtafoveal) which become dilated
and incompetent, like varicose veins but on a much smaller scale. While
MacTel does not usually cause total blindness, it commonly causes loss
of the central vision, which is required for reading and driving, over a
period of 10-20 years.Although MacTel has been previously regarded as a rare
disease, it is in fact probably much more common than previously thought.
The very subtle nature of the early findings in MacTel means the diagnosis
is often missed by optometrists and general ophthalmologists. No new
information has emerged about the condition since its clinical features were
first well described by Dr. J. Donald Gass in 1982. There is much work to be
done to understand the disease better, to raise its profile and to search for
treatments.
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Updated by The EMMES Corporation October 2016