new non-penetrating procedure for the treatment of glaucoma: a preliminary report

ABSTRACT

To asses the effectiveness of scleral expansion procedure in lowering the IOP in eyes with absolute glaucoma. Unicenter, randomized, investigator-masked clinical trial. Patients included in the study had absolute primary glaucoma with no PL vision. They all underwent scleral expansion procedure with intrascleral implantation of silicone implants. The main measure was mean change from the pre-operative IOP [ranging from 26 to 42mmHg]. Other measures to asses the safety of the procedure included complete ophthalmologic examination and adverse side effects. At the end of the study, 75% of the patients included showed drop to a mean IOP of 20 +/- 2mmHg. None of the patients showed any serious post-operative complications showing that the SEP is a relatively safe procedure. SEP is an effective and safe non-penetrating IOP lowering procedure for further study