Drusen are very small yellow or white spots that appear in Bruch's membrane (one of the layers of the retina in the eye). Drusen are made up of lipids (fatty protein). A possible cause of drusen is that the eye is unable to eliminate some waste products of cells of the photoreceptors. Drusen are typically associated with age-related macular degeneration in people over the age of 60; however they can arise as hereditary degenerations in young people.
There are several types of drusen with different levels of risk.
- "Hard" drusen are small and scattered far apart from each other. They are round and have distinct edges. This type may not create vision problems for a long time and may not even be associated with macular degeneration.
- "Soft" drusen are larger and closer together. Their edges are slightly blurred or less distinct. When they get to that stage, there is a greater risk for developing wet macular degeneration and more severe vision loss. Soft drusen can also disrupt the layers of the retina and may lead to retinal pigment epithelium detachment.
Drusen are visible when your eye doctor performs ophthalmoscopy and looks inside
your eye at the retina.
There is currently no treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration or drusen. However, people with drusen need to be monitored regularly.