GLAUCOMA CLINIC

GLAUCOMA

Glaucoma is an eye disease which can go undetected right up to the point at which your eyes have suffered permanent damage. Up to 50% of all people with glaucoma in India are not even aware they have the situation. However, if it is diagnosed early, treatment can begin and vision loss can be prevented.

Understanding Glaucoma

Before you begin any treatment, it is important that you understand how this disease damages your eyesight. Most commonly glaucoma is the result of too high pressure in your eye, which then starts damaging the optic nerve. However, there are subsets of glaucoma that can present without evidence of raised IOP and can be hard to detect.

Damage to the optic nerve eventually leads to loss in visual field and if not treated properly can lead to blindness. Luckily, when detected and treated early, this rarely results in any lasting damage to your vision. Because of this, it is very significant that you regularly have your eyes checked by a qualified ophthalmologist.

Symptoms & Signs of Glaucoma

Usually Glaucoma is seen in older age group (40 yrs and above) and is asymptomatic in early stage. Some risk factors are :

Family history of glaucoma
Diabetes
Myopia

Some of the clinical findings include :

IOP > 21
Frequent change of reading glasses
Field of vision loss (noticed by few patients)

Diagnosing Glaucoma

A number of tests will be carried out to confirm the diagnosis, including :

Visual acuity testing
Measurement of intraocular pressure – Tonometry
Examination of angle of AC – Gonioscopy
Dilated fundus examination to check optic nerve damage – slit lamp biomicroscopy
OCT for RNFL analysis
Visual field testing – Perimetry

Some of these tests are to be done at regular intervals to check for any disease progression. Depending on the results of these investigations, the treatment is started or modified from time to time.

Treatment for Glaucoma

The only way to treat glaucoma is by lowering of intraocular pressure.

There are 3 ways to achieve that goal. First is the use of eye drops to lower the IOP. Drops have to be used lifelong in most cases and even though it is a non-invasive option it can get difficult for some patients with poor compliance. The second option is Laser Trabeculoplasty. This procedure is not very popular as its effect is temporary. The last option which may even be the first option in some cases of advanced glaucoma is surgery. The surgery for glaucoma is called Trabeculectomy. There can be modifications of it also like the use of Mitomycin C during surgery.

The aim of treatment is to set and maintain a target IOP at which there is no progressive damage to optic nerve and visual field. Regular follow up is an important aspect of treatment.

FACILITIES AVAILABLE

OCT for RNFL ananlysis

Zeiss HFA 3 for perimetry

Latest glaucoma diagnostic & surgical procedures

Trabeculectomy surgery with modifications

Laser trabeculoplasty (ALT)

Glaucoma is a serious vision threatening eye condition in which the optic nerve becomes damaged, usually due to increased intraocular pressure. Although glaucoma normally doesn’t cause obvious symptoms at first, some early warning signs may indicate its onset. Therefore regular screening is very important. With prompt treatment, you may be able to prevent loss of field of vision.

Our center has all the equipment needed to diagnose and manage glaucoma efficiently. But one of the most important factors in treatment is patient compliance and understanding of the disease.

We have Humphrey field analyzer – 3 (the gold standard perimeter for field testing) Optovue OCT (for RNFL analysis)

We offer all types of glaucoma surgeries and laser treatment.