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 Glaucoma Procedures
What causes glaucoma?
Open angle glaucoma occurs when there is a sustained decrease in the rate of fluid drainage from the eye. This decreased outflow eventually causes an increase in intraocular pressure, which can cause loss of individual fibers of the optic nerve. These losses lead to damage to the peripheral visual field and eventual loss of visual acuity.
How do you treat glaucoma?
The most common form of glaucoma therapy consists of using medications such as eye drops or pills. These medications
work to either allow for faster fluid drainage from the eye or provide for a reduction in the amount of fluid that is produced. They
may cause undesirable side effects, however.
Laser surgery may be used as adjunctive therapy to medications, or as an alternative if the disease is mild. With
traditional Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty (ALT), an argon laser is used to make evenly spaced burns throughout the trabecular meshwork,
which improves the fluid drainage. The major drawback of this procedure is that scarring of the meshwork may occur, which limits the
technique's success as well as reduces the ability to retreat the eye in the future.
What new technology is being used at Eye Care Associates?
At Eye Care Associates we use an advanced approach to help treat patients with open angle glaucoma that does
not cause scarring. Instead of burning the tissue, Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) selectively targets pigmented cells
within the trabecular meshwork. While both ALT and SLT produce similar results, the SLT technique may be performed multiple
times and may be effective where other procedures have failed.
For more information, please contact the patient advisor by phone at 330-747-2733 or by email at info@eyecareassociates.com
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