After years with few new surgical options to treat glaucoma, ophthalmologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center http://umm.edu are now able to perform a minimally invasive procedure expected to transform glaucoma into a surgically curable disease.
Glaucoma is expected to affect 78 million patients worldwide by 2020. The U.S has an estimated 2.2 million cases of open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease, with more than 88,000 of the estimated three million patients in 2020 predicted to go blind
The University of Maryland was the first in the State to offer iStent surgery. iStent is the smallest medical device to be embedded in the human body. iStent is inserted into the Schlemm’s canal which is a circular channel that normally drains inner-eye fluid to ease dangerously high eye pressure.
UM ophthalmologists Lily Im, M.D., and Osamah J. Saeedi, M.D, are among the few practitioners in the state currently performing the surgery which is done in conjunction with cataract removal.
Open-angle glaucoma occurs when the eye’s drainage canals gradually become clogged, and dangerously raise pressure inside the eyes. Because vision loss resulting from glaucoma is irreversible, physicians seek to control the condition’s progression by prescribing medications such as eye drops or pills to regulate inner-eye pressure or lessen fluid production.
When medications fail or lead to intolerable side effects, ophthalmologists may turn to traditional glaucoma surgery, to create a passage in the sclera (the white part of the eye) for excess eye fluid drainage. However, neither eye drops not traditional surgery are close to ideal, according to Dr. Im.
The iStent procedure is far less invasive and doesn’t create a new bypass for eye drainage. Instead, this minimally invasive operation is just one of several emerging “Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery” or MIGS in the pipeline that uses the eye’s existing drainage system.
Dr. Im reports that iStent as the first available micro-bypass stent for glaucoma treatment is only FDA approved to be performed for mild or moderate cases of open-angle glaucoma during simultaneous cataract removal. Dr. Im, said “This requirement makes sense, since it is almost impossible to implant the iStent device without touching the eye’s lens, creating a cataract in the process.
For more information, go to http://medschool.umaryland.edu/ophthalmology or to make an appointment with University of Maryland Eye Associates, call 667-214-1111.