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Glaucoma

What is Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve, which is the part of the eye that carries the images we see to the brain. The optic nerve is made up of many nerve fibers, like an electrical cable containing numerous wires. When damage to the optic nerve fibers occurs, blind spots develop. These blind spots usually go undetected until the optic nerve is significantly damaged. If the entire nerve is destroyed, blindness results.

Early detection and treatment by your ophthalmologist are the keys to preventing optic nerve damage and blindness from glaucoma.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness I the United States, especially for older people. But loss of sight from glaucoma can often be prevented with early treatment.

What Causes Glaucoma?

Clear liquid, called the aqueous humor, circulates inside the front portion of the eye. A small amount of this fluid is produced constantly, and an equal amount flows out of the eye through a microscopic drainage system, maintaining a constant level of pressure within the eye. (This liquid is not part of the tears on the outer surface of the eye.)

Because the eye is a closed structure, if the drainage area for the aqueous humor-called the drainage angle-is blocked, the excess fluid cannot flow out of the eye. Fluid pressure within the eye will increase, pushing against the opt nerve and potentially causing damage.

What are the Different Types of Glaucoma?

Chronic Open-Angle Glaucoma

This is the most common form of glaucoma in the United States.

The risk of developing chronic open-angle glaucoma increases with age. The drainage angle of the eye becomes less efficient over time, and pressure within the eye gradually increases, which can damage the optic nerve. In some patients, the optic nerve becomes sensitive to normal eye pressure and is at risk for damage. Treatment is necessary to prevent further vision loss. Chronic open-angle glaucoma damages vision so gradually and painlessly that you are not aware of trouble until the optic nerve is already injured.

Ask about iStent Inject – it may be a possible treatment for you.

Closed-Angle Glaucoma

Sometimes the drainage angle of the eye may become completely blocked. In the eye, the iris (the part that makes eyes blue, brown, or green) may drop over and completely close of the drainage angle. You can imagine this occurring much like a sheet of paper floating near a drain. If the paper suddenly drops over the opening the flow is abruptly blocked.

When eye pressure builds up suddenly, an acute closed-angle glaucoma attack occurs.

Symptoms May Include

  • Blurred vision
  • Severe eye pain
  • Headache
  • Rainbow-coloured halos around lights
  • Nausea and vomiting

This is a true eye emergency. If you have any of these symptoms, call your ophthalmologist immediately. Unless this type of glaucoma is treated quickly, blindness can result. In some patients, glaucoma has features of both the chronic open-angle type and the acute closed-angle type. This may be called chronic closed-angle glaucoma or mixed mechanism glaucoma.

SLT Selective Light Therapy

The Gentle Alternative for Glaucoma Therapy

Also know as Selective Light Therapy, SLT is a simple, yet highly effective, laser procedure that reduces the intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma. It is performed in the ASC (Ambulatory Surgical Center) and typically takes no longer than five minutes.

SLT uses short pulses of low-energy light to target the melanin, or pigment, in specific cells of the affected eye. In response, the body’s natural healing mechanisms go to work to rebuild these cells. This rebuilding process improves drainage and lowers intraocular pressure. The surrounding non-pigmented cells, as well as the rest of the eye structure, are untouched and undamaged.

No. SLT is painless.

Prior to treatment, eye drops are administered to prepare the eye and provide mild anesthesia. Then gentle pulses of light are delivered through a specially designed microscope. The entire process takes just a few minutes.

When it’s complete, your eye doctor may treat your eye with anti-inflammatory eye drops. One to three days after the procedure, your intraocular pressure should drop significantly. Your eye doctor will re-check the treated eye during periodic follow-up visits.

SLT is gentle, non-thermal and non-invasive which allows the procedure to be repeated if necessary. In comparison, repeat treatments of previous approaches in laser therapy were either extremely limited or not possible.

SLT lowers intraocular pressure by an average of 25% in 75-85 percent of patients treated. For those who do not respond, other forms of treatment, including traditional drug therapy, can still be highly effective.

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