Choroidal neovascularization: a wound healing perspective.

The process of submacular angiogenesis seen in association with a variety of chorioretinal disorders is termed choroidal neovascularization (CNV). It invariably results in significant and permanent vision loss arising from the development of scar tissue formation. At the cellular level, CNV appears to be a component of several key processes that can be broadly referred to as wound healing or tissue repair. Wound healing involves a coordinated cascade of cellular events driven, in the main, by the production of cytokines and which are interpreted by target cells in the context of a continually evolving extracellular matrix (ECM). A similar process occurs in what is clinically termed CNV. Angiogenesis is just one component of this wound healing process. Other key components include inflammation, matrix deposition and remodelling. Thus, in the context of a tissue repair response, viable treatment options for CNV could include therapies other than those that are currently directed at the angiogenic component of this process.