"Hair-Sized Stent Offers Hope For Patients Suffering From Glaucoma" - Dr. Max Gomez
A tiny new device could help prevent a leading cause of blindness. The glaucoma implant is the size of a human hair, and was just approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Glaucoma is dangerous because it doesn’t cause symptoms until you’ve permanently lost vision; the device provides new hope for patients who aren’t helped by eye drops or surgery. “It’s also made of a very nice material that’s well tolerated by the human body whereby you plant it, the body doesn’t form a lot of scar tissue around it,” said Joseph Panarelli, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, associate residency director and the glaucoma fellowship director at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. “Because it’s minimally traumatic to the tissue, patients will often come back on day one or week one and say, ‘I see pretty well already’,” said Dr. Panarelli. “Versus a lot of our traditional glaucoma procedures, patients will take months to recover.”
- Joseph Panarelli, MD, Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Associate Residency Program Director, Glaucoma Fellowship Director, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai