Approach to therapy:

Our Mission is EARLY detection of glaucoma—before vision loss occurs.  To help aid in detecting glaucoma, we use a risk calculator (developed by Pfizer ophthalmic based upon the results of the OHTS study (ocular hypertensive treatment study).  This is analogous to calculating your risk for heart disease based upon your cholesterol, family history, blood pressure and weight.

For glaucoma, the key predictive factors are:

Intraocular pressure, corneal thickness, vertical cup disk ratio, age, and visual field findings (pattern standard deviation).  Based upon these parameters, we can estimate your risk of developing glaucoma within the next five years.

If glaucoma has already caused optic nerve damage and vision loss, our Center will:

Document the status of your optic nerve for future comparisons with stereo disk photographs and have definitive ocular coherence tomography

Document the status of your vision and visual field for future comparison

Accurately establish your eye pressure; (intraocular pressure or IOP) before you start eyedrop therapy (baseline eye pressure). Depending upon the stage and type of glaucoma you have, the goal of therapy is to lower the pressure anywhere between 25% to 50% below your baseline..

We often use monocular trials to assess the efficacy of treatment.  In monocular trials, the doctor starts a drop in one eye only (the eye with the highest pressure) and then re-measures the pressure in both eyes several weeks later. The untreated eye serves as a control to see if the medicine is working.

Our approach to glaucoma therapy:

1.       Pressure control and monitoring
2.       Monitoring Optic Nerve and Nerve Fiber Layer
3.       Monitoring Vision and Visual Field
4.       Monitor for medication side effects
5.       Patient education and encourage compliance