iStent: Managing Glaucoma while treating your Cataracts
VisionPoint Eye Center offers the iStent Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent as a treatment option to reduce eye pressure for patients with both cataracts and glaucoma.
The iStent is FDA-approved for use in conjunction with cataract surgery to reduce eye pressure in adult patients with mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma currently being treated with glaucoma medicine. In clinical trials, iStent has been shown to safely reduce eye pressure, which is the primary cause of open-angle glaucoma.
iStent Trabecular Micro-Bypass: Add an exciting new glaucoma technology to your cataract surgery. Technology has always played an important role in eye care. Today, almost every aspect of vision is connected to a product or procedure that wasn’t available even ten short years ago. The cataract surgery you are scheduled for is a good example of how innovations can make a difference. Every aspect of it utilizes recently developed technology that will help us improve your vision. Today, this includes managing your mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma: because now we are able to add another step to your cataract surgery that allows you to treat your open-angle glaucoma in a completely new way. This is important because once diagnosed, you and most patients like you will spend the rest of your lives putting one, two or even three different kinds of drops in every day. Unfortunately, all of these drops will not only be inconvenient, but potentially very expensive. The iStent Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent is designed to reduce your eye pressure and you can have it done at the same time you have cataract surgery.
iStent: The world’s smallest medical implant delivers big results in mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma.
While mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma is very common, many people are unaware of their condition, especially in the early stages, when their vision may be unaffected. In many people, open-angle glaucoma is characterized by an increase in the intraocular pressure (IOP) of your eye. This pressure is caused by the buildup of fluid within the eye. Too much fluid raises pressure, which can cause the gradual loss of vision. And while glaucoma moves slowly, its damage is irreparable.
The world’s tiniest medical device — iStent — is 20,000 times smaller than the intraocular lenses (IOL) used in your cataract surgery. But the size of iStent is only part of its story. By increasing the eye’s ability to drain fluid, this technology is designed to reduce the pressure in your eye.
In a U.S. clinical study, 68% of glaucoma patients who received iStent remained medication free at 12 months while sustaining a target IOP of less than or equal to 21 mm Hg vs. only 50% of patients who underwent cataract surgery alone.
