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Feb 26, 2009 5:41 pm US/Eastern
New Treatment Holds Promise For Glaucoma Sufferers
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh are using a new treatment for glaucoma, which affects 4 million Americans, 100,000 of whom go blind from the disease each year.
It's called "canaloplasty" and it uses a tiny catheter to reopen or widen the eye's drainage channel which may have become blocked or narrowed, keeping fluid from draining from the eye.
That buildup of fluid puts pressure on the optic nerve.
Left untreated, damage to the nerve leads to deteriorating eyesight and even blindness.
Doctor Robert Noecker brought the procedure to the UPMC Eye Center.
"What that does is make it easier for the fluid to leave the eye," said Doctor Noecker.
He says canaloplasty is more effective than laser surgery which isn't permanent and safer than traditional glaucoma surgery which can have serious complications.
"The good thing is that the patient is not left with a hole in their eye which could make them prone to infection. And it's also possible to have too much flow out of the eye and lower the pressure too much which can lead to blurry vision," he said.
For Rose Mary Surgent of North Huntingdon, having the canaloplasty procedure eliminated the need to use daily eye drops to control her disease.
She was diagnosed with glaucoma six years ago and had the surgery last October.
"It's not cured but it's controlled so I can be at ease and know that my eyes are going to be OK," said Surgent, who had her procedure as an outpatient and went home the same day. "It's something I don't have to worry about any more."
For more information on the canaloplasty procedure,
click here or call
Dr. Robert Noecker at (412) 647 5753.
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