The purpose of this study is to determine if treatment of Age Related Macular Degeneration
(AMD) with a new medication,rituximab is effective. To address this issue, investigators
propose a clinical trial in which patients with late stage disease, poor vision and who have
failed treatment by conventional means will receive rituximab by direct injection into the
affected eye and will be followed for improvement in the structure of their retina. Age
Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in the elderly with
routine care involving injections in the eye to improve and to prevent worsening of vision.
However, some patients do not respond to the medications that we currently have and as such
an alternative medication is needed. One potential medication is rituximab, which has been
injected into the eye for primary eye cancer, and has been tolerated well and led to patient
improvement. Investigators will obtain baseline eye tests then plan on injecting this
medication in to the eye of our patients with late stage AMD, by first placing numbing drops
into the eye, then injecting the medication directly into the eye using sterile techniques.
Investigators will then follow the patient and repeat eye tests to monitor for improvements.