Good news for glaucoma patients

CHENNAI: Glaucoma patients can heave a sigh of relief with the introduction of a new advanced technology that reduces pain and recovery time and can increase the success rates of surgery, according to Dr Venkataraman, chief medical officer of Vasan Eye Care Hospital.Addressing a press conference to mark the success of Chennai’s first closed eye glaucoma surgery, he said on Friday that the device, which was introduced in the country a couple of weeks ago and cleared by the Indian government, offers doctors a better alternative to traditional surgery methods.Express Shunt is a small non-valved device, similar to a rice grain or about 400 microns in size and it offers doctors a better alternative to traditional surgery methods and devices, he said.“This new procedure will bring down the chances of infection that occurs in an open eye surgery. Traditional glaucoma surgery requires that we cut open the iris to allow free movement, which is completely eliminated in this new procedure. This makes the patient recovery shorter and without any serious implications for vision,” Dr Venkatraman said.He said more than 5 to 10 per cent of people are affected by Glaucoma, which is a silent killer of vision. “The patients are aware only when 90 per cent of the nerves are lost. There are no symptoms and it occurs due to pressure on the nerves. There are about 10 to 20 million nerve fibres in the eyes and medication is given to reduce the pressure in the eyes by either discharging the water from the eyes or reducing it,” he added.Eye pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Normal eye pressure ranges from 12-22 mm Hg, and eye pressure of greater than 22 mm Hg is considered higher than normal. “Normally eye drops are given to cut down the pressure and when it fails then we go for surgery,” Dr Venkataraman said. He also said that Vasan Eye care receives about four to five patients a day who are suffering from glaucoma. He said the new generation medicine for Glaucoma are a bit on the higher end and the surgery may cost nearly Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.