Glaucoma surgery

How to recognise glaucoma - risk factors

• someone in your immediate family (grandparents,parents, siblings) suffers or suffered from glaucoma
• you are near-sighted with a sight defect greater than – 4 dioptries
• you suffer from migraines
• your hands and feet are constantly cold
• you suffer from diabetes or arteriosclerosis
• you have a high blood cholesterol or triglyceride level
• your general blood pressure is low

If at least two of the above statements are true, see an ophthalmologist.

Any ophthalmologist can diagnose glaucoma. In the event of highly advanced changes, all that is needed is an examination of the eyeground and measurement of the eye pressure. In the initial phase of glaucoma, additional examinations are advised: field of vision, GDX, OCT – glaucoma module, HRT, sometimes the daily curve of intraocular pressure. We also measure intraocular pressure taking into account the thickness of the cornea. This way we calculate the actual intraocular pressure.

Treatment

This is selected individually for each patient. It depends on the type of glaucoma and how advanced it is, as well as the patient’s age, presence of cardio-vascular illnesses, and sight defects.

Glaucoma treatment consists mainly of taking medicines to reduce the intraocular pressure, and drugs to increase the circulation in the blood vessels feeding the optic nerve. In the event that conservative treatment is unsuccessful, we carry out laser surgery (laser iridotomy), fistular surgery (trabeculectomy), seton surgery (Ex-press implants) and canaloplasty. These are intended to ease the draining of aqueous fluid from the eye or reduce its production – to reduce intraocular pressure. A new method is to use an XEN gel implant designed to create a channel through the sclera, allowing the flow of aqueous fluid from the anterior chamber of the eye to the conjunctival space in order to lower the intraocular pressure long-term in patients with open-angle glaucoma. The procedure is minimally invasive, effective and does not require stitches.

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