Chennai: In a huge medical breakthrough, a Chennai-based private hospital has developed a first-of-its-kind treatment in the world for glaucoma, which is one of the leading causes of blindness. Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital on Saturday announced that they have developed the Single Pass Four Throw (SFT) Pupilloplasty technique to treat the closed angle glaucoma. The new invention proved successful with patients suffering from uncontrollable eye pressure, during when the traditional laser treatment turned futile.
Narrating a recent successful case history, chairman and MD, Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital Dr Amar Agarwal, recollected of how an 83-year-old senior citizen was given a fresh lease of life through SFT Pupilloplasty. “On diagnosis, it was learnt that the senior citizen had a pressure of around 40 mm Hg, far higher than the average pressure among glaucoma patients. If left unattended immediately, she would have lost her vision completely. As the laser treatment did not work, we followed the technique. In one pass, we are tying the Iris together. When the angle gets opened, fluids will be drained. Through laser surgery, it’s not possible to drain fluids and it may lead to excess drainage,” Dr Amar Agarwal said.
In SFT, the iris position is corrected by releasing the iris (the brown tissue) from the angles where the fluid drains. Through this method, the iris are prevented from blocking the aqueous or fluid flow inside the eye, which is necessary for maintaining pressure. Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in India.
