A refractory glaucoma, which is difficult to treat and which can gradually lead the patient to blindness, was treated for the first time in our country at the S. Anna Clinical Institute in Brescia, a hospital of the San Donato Group, with an innovative surgical technique. A particular mechanical valve equipped with a regulator of the flow of aqueous humor that can be controlled externally by the specialist, through a magnet, was implanted in a 34-year-old woman with a significant deficit of vision in the right eye. The valve, made in Switzerland, was implanted by Professor Luciano Quaranta – Head of the Glaucoma Center of the S. Anna Clinical Institute – on a Milanese patient suffering from congenital cataract which resulted in secondary glaucoma and treated several times with other surgical techniques that were less effective.
Glaucoma represents the first cause in the world of irreversible blindness and is characterized by the increase in pressure inside the eye, which over time causes permanent damage to the optic nerve, the structure responsible for transmitting visual information from the eye to the brain. The interventions aimed at the treatment of glaucoma aim to reduce this intraocular pressure by increasing the flow of aqueous humor towards the external ocular spaces.
Professor Quaranta, who directs the new Glaucoma Center and belongs to the Ophthalmology Unit directed by Dr. Gianpaolo Gatta, has positioned a mechanical valve in the patient’s eye equipped with a magnetic system essential for flow control, which is adjusted externally by the ophthalmologist thanks to the use of a magnetic pen, positioned on the patient’s eyelid, which allows to increase or reduce the outflow of aqueous humor according to clinical needs. The operation was carried out in day hospital, in total sedation and lasted 45 minutes.
“The use of this revolutionary valve is a further step forward in the treatment of patients with glaucoma who were currently deemed irrecoverable” says Professor Quaranta. “This new technology is already widespread in several European countries, where there have been over 300 implants with a 6-year follow-up, and today, by obtaining approval in Italy, it allows us to have an extra card to effectively counteract the most complex forms of the disease “. Thanks to this intervention, the patient showed a significant reduction in ocular pressure, which will allow her, if maintained over time, to preserve the residual visual function. Now he will have to undergo close checks for the first period, then he can continue over time with routine visits.
.