Timely diagnosis for glaucoma is possible and this is done by the ophthalmologist who, looking at the back of the eye, must identify the first signs of glaucomatous disease at this point if this is present they can be associated with examinations that identify the disease even better and they tell us what stage it is in”. So Roberto Carassa, director of the Italian Glaucoma Center in Milan, on the occasion of the 77th Congress of the Lombard Ophthalmological Society scheduled in the Lombard capital until tomorrow.
“Once the disease has been identified, it is first of all necessary to intervene to reduce the pressure in the eye and for this we have the drops – continues Carassa -. It is important to understand whether the therapy is able to stabilize the disease. Periodic visits associated with examinations are advisable. If the disease were to progress, other strategies would become necessary, such as microsurgical techniques”.
If the “intraocular pressure does not reach the right values, or a progression of the disease should in any case be identified, it is necessary to intervene with surgical strategies – underlines the expert -. Today there are minimally invasive techniques which compared to the traditional ones have the great advantage of being very rapid from a technical point of view and have an extremely high safety profile.This makes them very suitable especially in younger people or those who have glaucoma in the initial stage and in cases where it is necessary to intervene in order to lower the pressure in a significant”. The more invasive surgical techniques, on the other hand, manage to reduce the pressure in a more substantial way despite having a higher risk profile on their side. We must evaluate the risk-benefit ratio. In the face of very aggressive glaucoma, traditional surgery becomes the first indication” he concludes.