Canaloplasty, Glaucoma Treatment | In the News

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Glaucoma Treatment - Canaloplasty | abc7

There is now a new glaucoma treatment, called canaloplasty. “Traditional glaucoma surgery, called trebeculectomy, has quite a few risks associated with it,” said Dr. David Richardson, San Gabriel Valley Medical Center.

In the most common surgical procedure for glaucoma, doctors penetrate the eye and create a hole to reduce the pressure. In canaloplasty it’s completely different. Doctors say to think of it as “angioplasty for the eye.”

“With canaloplasty we do not penetrate the eye,” said Richardson.

Instead, Richardson cuts a tiny flap at the top of the eye. Surgeons find an opening in the eye’s natural drainage system, insert a micro-catheter to expand the canal and then keep it open with a stent.

“This surgery is really the first surgery that allows us to give patients with glaucoma a surgical treatment before they get to that end stage of glaucoma,” said Dr. Richardson.

A Treatment For Glaucoma? KCAL9 with Dr. David Richardson

KCAL9: Well, there’s a new treatment now for people with Glaucoma and iIt’s called Canaloplasty.

KCAL9: It’s a minimally invasive procedure, reduces the infection and bleeding. With us today, Dr. David Richardson, who’ll explain more about this breakthrough surgery and what it’s all about. Thanks for being with us.

Dr. David Richardson: Well, thank you. Good afternoon.

KCAL9: First of all, what is Glaucoma? What happens in your eye when you have it?

Dr. David Richardson: That’s a very good question. Glaucoma is actually the second leading cause of blindness in the world. But, it’s a silent disease. There are no symptoms until it’s really too late. So, unlike the other two leading causes of blindness — Cataract and Macular Degeneration, it really doesn’t get a lot of awareness. Similar (more like) Diabetes or High Blood pressure where the treatments often are more bothersome than the disease itself until it gets to that end-stage point. Glaucoma is caused by a high pressure in the eye and we feel that the pressure is elevated simply because the drainage system in the eye gets clogged up. So, most of the treatments are really geared toward creating a new drainage system or using medications to either reduce the amount fluid in the eye that’s produced or help that fluid find a way out of the eye. But until recently, there’s been no way to actually just treat the natural drainage system and get it to start working again.

KCAL9: So, that’s where you come in with what’s called Canaloplasty. Is that right?

Dr. David Richardson: That’s right. Canaloplasty is one of a new generation of what we’d call minimally invasive surgeries for the eye. It’s very similar to angioplasty and in fact some have actually called it angioplasty for the eye. What it involves is creating a small flap, just underneath the eyelid on the white part of the eye. So there’s nothing to be seen by the patient. Then, a very small catheter, in fact, it’s the world’s smallest catheter is used to open up that drainage system with a special gel called viscoelastic, and then just like with the angioplasty where stents are left, a suture is used then to stent open the canal, which is again the body’s natural drainage system so there’s no additional pole placed in the eye. You’re really just opening up the drainage system that was there before.

KCAL9: So does this stop the progression of Glaucoma or does it actually help to heal or reverse the symptom?

Dr. David Richardson That’s a very good question. The problem with Glaucoma is that when the damage is done, it’s permanent. And to date, we have no real way to reverse the damage. So it’s absolutely critical that we treat Glaucoma before the vision has been lost. So, of course, in order to do that we have to find which requires the proper screening but up until just recently the only surgical treatment that were available were really withheld until the end stages of Glaucoma when significant vision had already been lost. And the reason for that is that the older style of surgery — Trabeculectomy, shunts or tubes, were simply just too risky to provide for somebody at an earlier stage.
Canaloplasty is now opening up that opportunity to people to allow them to get a long-term treatment, successful surgical treatment at an earlier stage before they’ve lost vision.

Canaloplasty - new hope for those suffering from glaucoma | ABCNewsBoston

MELISSA MAHAN: It’s a degenerative eye disease that affects thousands but there is a new procedure giving new hope for those suffering from glaucoma. ABC 6 reporter Julie Ruditzky has more.

JULIE RUDITZKY: Sixty six year old Barbara Vivieros helps cancer patients cope with losing their hair. She owns a wig shop in Port Smith.

BARBARA: When a patient looks at you and says “you know for the two hours that I was here with you and my friends I forgot I had cancer.” That’s…that’s something.

JULIE RUDITZKY: But Barbara was suffering herself. She was on the verge of going blind.

BARBARA: Everyday was like, is it gonna be today? Am I gonna lose my sight?

JULIE RUDITZKY: A bad case of glaucoma it happens when elevated pressure causes severe optic nerve damage. Daily eye drops help most people but not Barbara.

BARBARA: The drops were horrible because well not only do they cost a lot. I had side effects from just about all of them.

JULIE RUDITZKY: Frustrated she turned to laser surgery. It got worst.

BARBARA: The only thing that kept me going was the fact that a great number of my clients here are cancer patients. And they were fighting for their lives. So I would use them kind of as they soft than I am.

JULIE RUDITZKY: She then turned to a specialist in Boston. Dr. B.J. Shingleton performs a new type of surgery for patients who’ve had unsuccessful results with other treatments.

DR. B.J. SHINGLETON: Canaloplasty is the first time with a micro surgical 30 minute painless technique. We can actually do the surgery in the area were the glaucoma actually occurs and that’s the internal drainage channel of the eye.

JULIE RUDITZKY: Restoring flow reduces the pressure. For Barbara, it worked.

DR. B.J. SHINGLETON: We caught it at early left stage that we think she will do extremely well for the long term.

JULIE RUDITZKY: Barbara is back at work and thankful she can see her clients smile.

BARBARA: How can you thank anybody or how can you say ‘oh this is great, thank you I have my sight back’. There’s not enough words.

JULIE RUDITZKY: The surgery is best for those who’ve already tried eye drops and laser surgery. Canaloplasty does not cure glaucoma but it does help to control it, of course glaucoma does not have any symptoms usually so it’s important to get regular check ups with your eye doctor.

Canaloplasty - new glaucoma surgery | Fox New Marcos

“Glaucoma really is an optic nerve disease. That’s the cable connecting the eye to the brain and what happens is the optic nerve has been damage over many years.”
For glaucoma patients the day of the routine of using prescription eye drops to keep the pressure in their eye down can be an annoying chore but without these drops the risk of going blind greatly increases.

“Lowering eye pressure matters; lowering eye pressure protects the nerve even if the pressure isn’t that high to begin with as it turns out.”

Now a new glaucoma surgery may be changing the lives of millions of people with this blinding disease.

“Canaloplasty is a evolutionary and revolutionary I think procedure. This new procedure is designed to lower the eye pressure by using the natural drainage system of your eye, to lower the pressure. What we are going to do when we do the surgery is we are going to peel away two layers of the sclera, the white part of the eye and expose and find the natural canal that surrounds the eye.”

Once this canal is found, a microcatheter is fed inside allowing this drainage pipe to open up, think of it as angioplasty for your eyes.

“And then we will close back the layer that we reflected, removing one of the layers but keeping intact the integrity of the eye by closing the superficial layer. And then putting everything back to where it was that hopefully and in our experience so far, has serve to lower the eye pressure successfully.”

It worked for 61 years old Stephen D’Orio who was diagnosed with glaucoma over 12 years ago and needed something to help with his symptoms.

“What was killing me was the irritation from the drops, which was … my eyes were always blurry and I couldn’t take drops anymore, you know…”

Because of the previous surgery in his right eye, Stephen was only able to have the canaloplasty in his left eye, but for him the result made a huge difference.

“Soon as I had it done, the pressure went to 15, without any drops and just hangs to 15, which was great.”

For more information on this procedure go to canaloplasty.com

Canaloplasty - may be "a permanent solution" | CBS Minneapolis

Three million Americans could be losing their sight to glaucoma right now. Eye drops work for most but they’re costly and people often forget to take them.

In Life Line tonight: a permanent solution. A warning for you however, you will see some graphic eye surgery so if you’re squeamish, be prepared to look away.

“This step, help prevent infection.”

Joyce Madela is in the ‘See Your Eye Doctor’, but in her mind’s eye, she is envisioning her favorite sights back home; in the Northwoods near Ellie.

“That’s very beautiful lake, I was out there last week and then I was just looking around and then it crossed my mind that maybe someday I won’t be able to see all of these.”

“Do you want your head back down?”

Joyce has battled sight stealing glaucoma for 30 years and her medicated eye drops are not controlling it as well as they once did.

“In some patients the fluid pressure in the eye is too high, and that injures the nerve that carries the vision from the eye to the brain. This nerve has 1.2 million fibers.”

If the expensive drops fail, lasers are off to the next step to allow excess fluids to drain. Eye surgeon Thomas Samuelson says in a healthy eye, a ring like canal keeps fluid pressure safe.

“The natural drainage system of the eye is at the junction of the sclera which is the white of the eye and the clear cornea. Right at the intersection there, the drain passes circumferentially around the eye.”

But for millions of people like Joyce, that canal collapses or clogs up. To access the canal, Dr. Samuelson will first slice 2 tiny flaps in the eye wall; the scalpel is barely larger than the tip of a needle. Next a hair thin catheter made by eye science is inserted into the canal to dilate it. You can see where it’s going, thanks to a flashing orange light at the tip. Dr. Samuelson became a fan of this procedure after helping to test the device in clinical trials. Finally a stint is threaded into the canal to keep it open.

“It’s unique because it helps restore the natural fluid flow in the natural drainage system. Traditional glaucoma surgery completely by passes the natural drain.”

“Dr. Samuelson says this canaloplasty is not for every patient but generally those who are younger and those whose disease is in the earlier stages, when there’s still the luxury of time to try to preserve the natural drainage system of the eye.”

Joyce is in awe at the technology that may save her sight.

“They are so tiny and so delicate and so surprisingly can do anything. It’s really wonderful that they come up with something this ingenious.”

Pretty impressive. And you know, once nerve damage occurs, it cannot be reversed. So it’s really critical to catch glaucoma as early as possible. And because there is usually no symptoms until it’s too late, regular eye exams are very important.

Trabeculectomy on one eye, Canaloplasty on the other eye | Duke Story

Close to three million Americans have the most common type of glaucoma. It’s called angle glaucoma and left untreated it can lead to blindness. Dr. Allen Mask is here this evening with; a new option on treatment?

“In a simple eye exam you can diagnose glaucoma. For most patients now, I’m sure you will treat this small work, for example, you use a simple eye drops. But for more complicating cases, there are acceptable standard surgical procedures; but Duke is among those who have been looking for a better way.”

Glaucoma is more common among older people but Julie Bryce learned she had it when she was 16 years old.

“Glaucoma is genetic to my family.”

With glaucoma, natural drainage channels collapse; fluid builds up, creating pressure that can damage the optic nerve and lead to a partial or complete blindness.

“I don’t want to have surgery; I was willing to do anything to avoid surgery.”

Eye drops and all her medications helps at first, but now at age 24, Bryce has had surgery on both eyes. On her left eye she had the standard surgery called trabeculectomy.

“The problem with that is that it causes a little risk on the white part of the eye, which may lead to infection and bleeds, so we truly need a better operation.”

Duke of Dr. Leon Herndon is among the few eye centers offering canaloplasty. It re-opens the natural drainage channel in the eye. Thru a tiny flap, a microcatheter finds the circle of channel around the iris and a suture’s left to keep it open and functioning. But it doesn’t get into ocular pressure down this low at the standard surgery.

“These are for patients who have moderate glaucoma and who do not have previous glaucoma surgery.”

Bryce wishes she could have had the new procedure on the other eye as well.

“My canaloplasty was so much better it terms of recovery time, and it actually generally paid afterwards. It was so much better than what I experienced in my left eye.”

This isn’t something to play around with. Who should get eye exams and then how often?

Preferably, those who get eye exams, about every other year. If you have a family history, you had it early, like we saw here today, you saw exams, of course much earlier. The risk factor for glaucoma is really vast; age, if you’re African American or Hispanic, or Asian American, diabetes, elevated blood pressure, cholesterol. Again, we called glaucoma the thief of the night because it can steal your vision. It progress over a period of time, you’ll never know it. So be sure to get a regular eye exam as your best defense.

Canaloplasty - "It's angioplasty for the eye" | K5 News Seattle

There’s a new procedure for patients who need surgery to treat glaucoma, and it’s available right here. It’s much less invasive and has a quicker recovery time.

“I was holding everything out as far as I could reach.”

Ken Lloyd thought he needed glasses; his eye doctor had other ideas.

“The first thing he did was to prod test, and he says ‘who among your family has glaucoma?’ and I said, ‘what is glaucoma?’ And that was the start.”

When drops didn’t work to keep the pressure down on his left eye, Ken has traditional surgery, years later, when it came time to do the other eye, Dr. Howard Barnebey took a newer less invasive approach.

“It’s angioplasty for the eye.”

The technical name is canaloplasty. A tiny catheter is inserted thru a flap under the iris and navigates around the eyes natural drainage canal to unblock it.

“We need a small catheter which is ten to fifteen times smaller than the catheter we use to do cardio angioplasty.

“And the right eye which had the canaloplasty done, I’ve taken no drops whatsoever and the pressure; it’s the lowest that’s ever been.”

The traditional surgery release patients with blurred vision for four to six weeks.

“With the newer canaloplasty, we’re seeing patients controlled and being able to be up on their feet within 1 to 3 weeks, so much better recovery. The results of the canaloplasty are actually better than the trabeculectomy in the other eye.”

Although canaloplasty is not a cure for glaucoma, it will prevent Ken’s vision from getting any worse.

“A big relief, nobody wants to go blind.”

To be eligible for canaloplasty, you have to have open angle glaucoma which is the most common kind and you cannot have had previous glaucoma surgery in that eye.

We’d like to hear from you about this story, please log on to K5.com, click on the story in the help section and send us your thoughts. Thank you.

Canalopalsty - saving your sight (from Glaucoma) | WBNS-TV10 CBS Columbus, Ohio

Saving your sight. The ground breaking procedure that could help change the way you look at things from now on. An eye doctor is among the first in central Ohio to use a new treatment to help save a patient’s sight, it allow them to return to work and see a lot clearer.

At age 45 Myles Gordon thought he was too young for glaucoma. Glaucoma damages the optic nerve. It blocks channels in the eye that could lead to blindness. Though it can strike at any age, it’s more common in older people, older than Myles.

“I know it’s disturbing. It was kind of getting dark, darker than it should be.”

Pressure was building in his right eye so his eye doctor said Myles to see Dr. Robert Derick, a Columbus Ophthalmology Associates. While glaucoma is often treated with drugs or surgery, Dr. Derick is doing a minimally invasive procedure to ease the pressure in the eye; it’s called the canaloplasty. Traditional surgery opens a new drainage channel, but he says this treatment is more like opening a blocked artery in the heart.

“In canaloplasty we actually inflate the natural canal, we don’t use a balloon; we use clear viscous jelly and would put a suture end after that.”

He says that holds the canal open and eases pressure. The procedure can’t undo damage over it done to the eye but it prevents more. Myles says the surgery was painless and he sees more clearly now, clear enough to return to work.

“When I move my eyes … you don’t realize how much depth perception you lose.”

Four millions Americans have glaucoma, half don’t even know it. The way to find the disease is to get your eyes examined.

Canaloplasty - an alternative to expensive daily glaucoma medications | Fort Worth Texas

Nearly a hundred thousand people will be blinded by glaucoma this year. There’ve been few breakthroughs in treating the eye disease until now. Janet St. James is here with some details. Janet ?

“John, this is a very promising alternative to expensive daily glaucoma medications that often quit working.”

“Good morning.”

When Jean Patterson went for a routine eye check up a few years ago, he was stunned to hear he have glaucoma. Glaucoma results when the eye’s natural fluids don’t drain normally causing a potentially blinding high pressure. For years, Patterson has been treated with the gold standard therapy, eye drops; lots of them.

“Five drops, different types of medicines, two times a day. It gets hard to keep up with.”

When the drops quit working, he tried a breakthrough surgery, one that does for the eye, what angioplasty does for the heart. In canaloplasty, a tiny catheter navigates around and enlarges the eye’s natural drainage canal releasing pressure.

“People usually return to their normal activities within a week or 10 days; Patients recovers quite rapidly compared to traditional glaucoma surgery and the results, the pressure, are excellent.”

Dr. Brian Flowers is among the few Ophthalmologists trained in canaloplasty: though he believes it will one day become standard treatment for glaucoma.

Jean Patterson quitting all those cumbersome eye drops.

“It’s like, probably like living a normal life.”

Best of all he knows he’ll get to watch his grandson grow up without fear of going blind.

Canaloplasty is covered by Insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare.

Canaloplasty - advance over traditional type of surgical treatment | ABCNewNow

Welcome back to healthy life, in production, Timothy Johnson, I’m Dr. Naina Sinha. Glaucoma is a disease that can cause blindness if left untreated. However, there is a new treatment that may offer hope for people suffering from glaucoma complications; it’s called canaloplasty. And here today to tell is about this new procedure is Dr. Bradford Shingleton, a surgical ophthalmologist.

“Welcome Dr. Shingleton.”

“Is a pleasure to be here.”

“I guess we should start with ‘what is glaucoma, what is the definition of that disease’.”

“Oh that’s so important. Glaucoma is very much like hypertension. Just like we have a blood pressure, we have an eye pressure. If the blood pressure goes up, it’s hypertension; if the eye pressure goes up, it’s glaucoma. But the key thing, if the eye pressure goes up with glaucoma, it damages the optic nerve. The optic nerve is part of the brain and if there’s damage to the brain and optic nerve, that can lead to irreversible blindness. But just like blood hypertension, unfortunately glaucoma for the vast majority of people is silent. It can grow very slowly and silently and people can actually loss vision and not know it’s happening.”

“Ok. Are there certain groups of people that are higher risk for developing glaucoma? Is family history of glaucoma important?”

“Absolutely, family history is very important. And very much directly related to age, the older people get the more common glaucoma is. But age is an issue; there are certain associated findings such as diabetes and other changes in the eyes, so it’s critical that patient be seen by their ophthalmologist to check for the possibility of glaucoma particularly if they have a family history of glaucoma.”

‘”Now, is there a cure for this disease or are they really just persistent treatment?”

“Just like hypertension, there is no cure, but it’s so critical to prevent problems with glaucoma because as I mentioned the damage is permanent, so that’s why it’s so critical to catch it early on, this disease. And that’s where, in terms of a surgical approach where we typically use medicines or lasers and then surgery; canaloplasty may be a very effective surgical approach earlier on.”

“Sir, can you sort of go thru with us the major types of treatments that are currently available; what we usually start out with; how it progresses?”

“Great. For majority of people we use medications, and this controls glaucoma for most people. The issue with medication is, you may guess, they can be irritating to the eye, they’re costly and if anybody’s like me, then we tend to forget putting the medicine in. That’s a problem with compliance, so that’s an issue.

The next stage of treatment tends to be laser therapy and this has been very effective. The problem with laser therapy is, it does tend to be temporary. When medicines and lasers don’t work, we do surgery and typically our surgery in the past is actually been sort of a minor modification on surgery that was done literally a hundred years ago in southern India by a Dr. Iliad. We haven’t had dramatic changes since that time. And we actually make a hole in the eye to bypass the normal channel and that controls the pressure for many people. The problem with that conventional type of surgery is that it can be associated a pressure that’s too low, a pressure that’s too high; there can be scarring, leakage, infection, and that’s the problem. And the canaloplasty may be an advance over that traditional type of surgical treatment.”

Canaloplasty - A cutting edge new procedure | Boise_video Fox12idaho

We have a health watch for you now. More people are living with glaucoma than ever before that’s because we’re living longer. Which is one of the biggest risk factors for getting the eye disease that can lead to blindness. But there is hope. A cutting edge new procedure that’s been working wonders for folks here in Idaho, like Nampa resident Judith Liebman who’s been living with glaucoma for over 20 years.

Dr. Alan Reynolds says an eye pressure of 16 is great for Judith Liebman because it used to be a lot worse hovering around a single digit for the average in the 20’s. Judith says thankfully, she learned about canaloplasty.

“I checked it out and I thought that is exactly what I wanna do.”

She was sick of all the painful eye drops. And laser treatments that can get a hold of her glaucoma. Judith saw a ray of light in this cutting edge new surgery.

“The doctor actually goes in and opens up the channel. Cuts a little flap, stitches and open so that the channel won’t close up and so you have normal drainage of the fluid in the eyes.”

That draining relieves pressure that can eventually lead to blindness. Canaloplasty was approved by the FDA just 3 years ago. Dr. Reynolds is the only eye surgeon that performs it here in Idaho. He’s always been a supporter of alternative methods.

“Really trabeculectomy and some of the other surgeries that we do, I have a lot of problems associated with them and always lead me to believe that there’s better ways to think about doing these. There’s better ways to do glaucoma surgery.”

Reynolds says the other surgeries cause bleeding, infection in cataracts. He emphasizes that canaloplasty is much easier on patients although the cutting as Judith explained earlier…

“Cuts a little flap, stitches, and open.”

Let’s just say, it doesn’t sound pleasant.

“It does sound scary, but it’s not. Not really, at all.”

What is scary is the fact glaucoma doesn’t have any warning signs and there’s no cure. That’s why Dr. Reynolds says it is important you catch the disease early so you can control it. That means getting and eye exam at least every other year.

For more information, go to our website. Fox12idaho.com

Canaloplasty procedure - like an angioplasty for the eye | CBS KOKA 2_Pittsburgh

Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh are using a new treatment for glaucoma. They could save the sight of millions of people with this disease. Christine Sorensen is here with more, Christine.

More than four million Americans have glaucoma and more than 100 hundred thousands of them go blind from it each year. This is new minimally invasive surgery, will not being called a cure, could be a permanent solution for these patients.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. How are you?”

Six years ago, Rose Mary Surgent find out she had glaucoma, a built up of fluid in the eye that put pressure on the optic nerve. Left untreated, damage to the nerve leads to deteriorating eyesight and even blindness. At first Rosemary treated her disease with eye drops, but then she heard about the new canaloplasty procedure being offered at the eye and ear hospital.

“Our goal in glaucoma surgery is to lower eye pressure and there’s a number of different ways to do it and how canaloplasty is different is that it basically retains the eye’s normal architecture.”

Doctors described the procedure as like an angioplasty for the eye. They inserted tiny catheter into the eye’s drainage canal which may have become blocked or narrowed keeping fluid from draining from the eye.

“Well, that makes it easier for the fluid to leave the eye. And the good thing is the patients not left with a hole in their eye which make them prone to infection. Also there’s the tendency to … it’s difficult to have too much fluid in the eye, it kind of lower the eye pressure too much, which could make you a blurry vision.”

Rose Mary had her surgery in October and was back to normal in less than three weeks. Not having to deal with nightly eye drops is great, but the surgery provided her with much more than that; Peace of mind.

“It’s not cure, but it’s controlled, so I can be …I can be at ease and know that, you know, my eyes are gonna be ok. It’s something I don’t have to worry about anymore.”

And Doctors say Canaloplasty is more effective than laser surgery for glaucoma which is temporary and can cause scarring or traditional surgery which has a lot more potential complications. And that the procedure is done on an outpatient basis, the patient returning home the same day.

For more information on the procedure and how to get in touch with the doctors at UPMC, just log on at KOKA.com/help.

Canaloplasty - hope in the fight against glaucoma | Fox Houston News

Glaucoma is known as the sneak thief of sight that’s because most people don’t even know when they have it. It is the 2nd leading cause of blindness. Now there is a hope in the fight against glaucoma. A doctor from UT Health Science, over here in Houston is the only doctor in our area performs it.

Denise Gilpin recently underwent the newest alternative treatment for glaucoma.

“It worked, it worked great. He’s very happy, my last exam was last week and he was just static, he’s like, ‘it can’t get any better than that’.”

Dr. Robert Feldman performs canaloplasty on Denise at Memorial Home and Hospital.

“It is a new technique for lowering the entrapped fluid pressure in patients who have glaucoma that’s uncontrolled on medication.”

Denise was diagnosed with glaucoma when she started having problems with her peripheral vision, a common late warning sign of glaucoma.

“I’ve been following Denise for a long time, and Denise actually had …glaucoma for a long time and has some vision lost from the glaucoma before we did the operating.”

Here’s the problem, they’re supposed to be fluid in the front of your eye that feed the tissues that help maintain the shape of your eye. But with glaucoma, the fluid can’t drain and that causes pressure on the optic nerve which eventually leads to vision lost or blindness.

” What we are doing is trying to find a way to get the fluid from inside the eye, to a little bit behind the drain to allow the fluid to get out in the natural pathway, compared to our previous surgeries which totally bypass the entire output pathway.”

Denise has always known she is high risk for glaucoma for 2 reasons.

“I wasn’t surprised; I was just surprised that it took so long because it was diagnosed with my mother and my sister at an earlier age.”

Dr Feldman says if a family member has glaucoma, you’re four times more likely than average to get glaucoma. That’s why Denise insists her daughter get tested every year, plus…

“The disease is much more common in African Americans and it also occurs earlier in African Americans, so the disease is usually more serious by the time it is detected.”

The procedure has allowed Denise to keep her eyesight and enjoy simple things in life, like snuggling up to read a good book and enjoys looking at her dog.

For more of the benefits of eye canaloplasty, check out the help page on our website.

There is now hope In the fight against this (Glaucoma) disease | Fox Sunrise News

It’s now 8:43, on this Tuesday morning and 65 million people worldwide suffer from glaucoma, 4 million of those right here in the U.S.

And for many, there is now hope In the fight against this disease, a minimally invasive procedure. Sunrise’s Kira Klapper joins us in the studio now with more of this new alternative. Hey Kira.

Hey Randall, hey Pattie. It’s called the canaloplasty, and it’s available to help patients who aren’t ready for surgery and maybe frustrated with their daily medication. It is seen as unprecedented way of doing glaucoma surgery and there are only three specialists who offered in the state. I spoke with the only doctor offering the procedure on the central coast and the patient who received the care. They will say it’s an eye opening innovation.

“And how’s your vision?”

“My vision is good, yes”

Helen Cummings has worn glasses for as long as she can remember. She has treated her glaucoma with eye drops for just as long and it wasn’t until July of this year that things started looking up; when she had a canaloplasty done on her left eye.

“I was so amazed and saw positive results of being able to see out of that eye, that as soon as that healed we scheduled another one for October 6.”

Canaloplasty has been around for three years and has been performed in Canada and Europe. It is offered by just three Doctors in California, one being Dr. Toni Meyers in Sta. Barbara.

“I think it’s really important as a physician to keep up-to-date on the latest technology. And that’s one of my mission, is to help patients; you know, to get the best patient or the best treatment that’s available.”

Canaloplasty uses what’s being called the breakthrough microcatheter technology, in a simple and minimally invasive procedure. With traditional glaucoma surgery, doctors would create a bypass in the eye’s drainage system, bypassing it completely.

“And it works very well but it is associated with more risk for the patient. So Canaloplasty is very unique in that it’s one of the only surgeries that we have that actually access the natural drainage system and get it to work again.”

Diminishing the need for multiple daily eye drops commonly associated with glaucoma treatment. But it’s not without what Helen called “it’s one downside”. It takes about a month for the eye to heal after the procedure.

“For the first three weeks, you say “Oh gee, what has happened and it is quite blurry.”

“So in Helen’s case, we were able to remove the cataracts and also do the glaucoma surgery at the same time. And now she’s very happy, she had great result and she’ seeing a lot better and it just makes it all worthwhile.”

“To me it’s like a miracle, to be able to sit somewhere or read in bed and be able to see.”

Dr. Meyers tells me, canaloplasty is traditionally for patients that have earlier stages of glaucoma and it’s for patients who haven’t had a lot of surgeries on their eyes in the past, so if you had glaucoma surgery you probably wouldn’t be a candidate for this procedure .

For more information on where to find the procedure on the central coast, we created a link on our new and improved website, just log the Kcy.com and click on story links. For sunrise, I’m Kira Klapper, back to you.

Canaloplasty - New Hope for Glaucoma Patients | LINews

Steve D’Orio says he’s been suffering from glaucoma for the past 12 yrs. Glaucoma is a disease that causes loss of vision by damaging the optic nerve, the part of the eye that delivers the images seen by the brain. D’Orio says managing his disease was driving him nuts.

“I was on the drops … so I was on the drops four times a day which was killing me, so… the irritation was ….and the pressure of course is going up.”

This abnormally high amount of pressure inside D’Orio’s eye developed into glaucoma.

“That is what glaucoma is, the pressure keeps arising and if it keeps arising it will destroy your vision.”

Fortunately for D’Orio, he found out about a pilot program at Syossep hospital that featured an innovative procedure that could treat his glaucoma. Glaucoma specialists say they’ve been searching for years for a safer procedure to treat this disease, and Craig Marcus of Syossep hospital says he thinks he has found it.

“We’re not entering the eye. It’s safer than the traditional glaucoma operation, though harder to do. But we think worth it because the patient has less possible or potential problem that can occur from the procedure.”

According to Dr. Marcus, D’Orio was one of the 94 patients of this nationwide pilot program and he says 74 of them had a successful canaloplasty. D’Orio says he is fortunate to be one of them.

“I’m lucky that’s all, am lucky I caught up with Dr. Marcus. I did nothing, he did all the work.”

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