The abnormal blood vessels that grow underneath and into the retina often lead to a scar over time. In a minority of cases, the disease is caught early enough that regression or disappearance of the vessels may occur; however, in most cases, the vessels are far enough along that even though treatment prevents them from leaking further, they do not disappear.
They subsequently end up as a fibrous or thickened scar. The new vessels often release factors that signal additional cells to come to the area of wet macular degeneration. These additional cells lead to an inflammatory reaction that results in scarring. Finally, bleeding that occurs in association with wet macular degeneration in and of itself can bring about factors that can lead to scarring. Cur-rent research includes new treatments that may help to prevent scarring or that may even lead to regression, or breakdown, of scars that have already formed.