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Glaucoma treatment is mostly intended to lower the ocular pressure, to diminish the damage to the optic nerve. Ocular pressure in fact, is the main factor that can be changed when curing glaucoma. Today there are several therapies to cure glaucoma:
The choice between glaucoma surgery, minimally invasive surgery, laser or medications, depends on the optic nerve condition and the patient’s life expectancy.
A glaucoma specialist that has experience on every option for glaucoma treatment will advice you on the best choice for your case.
Today glaucoma surgery is performed when the patient cannot tolerate medications or eye drops are not enough to stop the disease. The first kind of surgery is laser. The most innovative glaucoma laser surgery is the Selective Trabeculoplasty, known as SLT, available from the last 5 years but still not in use in Italy.
Historically, there was a surgery called Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty, also known as ALT. Today, it is overrated: the most innovative surgery is the Selective Laser Trebaculoplasty or SLT, that is less invasive, more effective and has less risks. Surgery in case of glaucoma is suggested when medication therapy or laser treatment prove to be non effective, eye pressure remains high and there is a progressive damage for the optic nerve.
In these cases, it is suggested a surgical therapy that can be minimally invasive in its initial phase, like the TRABECTOME or with the modern miniaturized stents for glaucoma surgery (Ex-PRESS, Glaukosetc).
If Trabeculactomy fails too, the next step in glaucoma surgery consists in surgery with draining implants like the Ahmed valve or the Molteno shunt, or also the Baerveldt implant (this consists in the implant of a small tube for drainage, keeping the ocular pressure at acceptable levels).