Glaucoma

It is not realistic for patients to be prepared to respond when they are given news of a disease or disorder. Many times, patients are caught off guard at the mention of disease and assume a blank stare. What questions are they supposed to ask? Will Smith, OD, anticipates these questions and provides staff with information to keep patients informed.

Prescribing narcotics and opioids has come under scrutiny of late as the opioid epidemic continues to grow. Optometry Times Chief Optometric Editor Benjamin P. Casella, OD, FAAO, gives his three key points to consider before handing over that prescription to your patient.

Monitoring and measuring a glaucoma patient's intraocular pressure can be challenging with patients' busy schedules. Optometry Times Chief Optometric Editor Benjamin P. Casella, OD, FAAO, gives his reasons why home tonometry can help drive a treatment partnership between doctor and patient.

The next patient sitting in your chair may have narrow angles. Find out how to best diagnose and manage patients with narrow angles; it can have a significant long-term impact on their visual outcome.

Treating glaucoma can prove to be challenging at times. Michael Brown, OD, MHS-CL, FAAO, shares five aspects of glaucoma treatment that frustrate him.

Evolving procedures continue to change the landscape of glaucoma treatments. Chief Optometric Editor Benjamin P. Casella, OD, FAAO, explores how the use of minimally (or micro-) invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) techniques can increase positive outcomes when treating glaucoma patients.

The notion of patients not coming in as advised for eye examinations can be troubling. For example, when a patient has an eye disease as potentially significant as glaucoma and chooses to ignore its presence, there is cause for concern on the part of the doctor.

Our patients have numerous choices regarding advanced technology and eye care. Advances range from how patients check in for an appointment to what tools a surgeon uses to dissect tissue. They all have their benefits, and all come at a cost.

Louise A. Sclafani, OD, FAAO, talks about the different concerns with men and women when diagnosing and treating glaucoma patients at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, NV.

Optometry Times Editorial Advisory Board member Leo P. Semes, OD, FAAO, sits down to talk about managing glaucoma, treatment recommendations, intraocular pressure, and new medications in treating glaucoma at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, NV.

Justin Schweitzer, OD, in Sioux Falls, SD, examines corneal hysteresis and discusses how it may be an indicator for glaucoma progression in patients at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, NV.

A poor ocular surface is a common condition in glaucoma patients due to the incidence of dry eye, age, and use of benzalkonium chloride (BAK). Poor compliance with glaucoma therapy can result. Use of point-of-care testing can help identify patients with a poor ocular surface and drive treatment decisions. Treatment options, including surgical, are discussed.

Taking note of a patient’s behavior can provide a multitude of clues on the patient’s current condition. Perhaps the most apparent observational feature would be a patient’s gait.

In the past decade, several significant advancements have been made in the arena of glaucoma diagnosis. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), newer algorithms in trend analysis of visual field studies, and combined visually evoked potential (VEP) and pattern electroretinography (ERG) studies have been the hallmarks of such recent advancements.

When I was a resident at the SUNY College of Optometry, I was asked a to conduct a few patient question and answer sessions regarding glaucoma. The sessions consisted of me sitting with a small group of patients, family members, or whoever wanted to know more about glaucoma.

Myopia control and prevention has become a popular topic due to more data on myopia becoming available.

ODs must have the right tools in their toolboxes when treating glaucoma correctly, says Optometry Times board member Michael Chaglasian, OD, FAAO, at Vision Expo East in New York.

Stem cell technology may soon enter the mainstream as a treatment for ocular disease, says Leo Semes, OD, FAAO, at this year’s annual SECO 2017 conference.

Most of the medications, both new and old, we prescribe for glaucoma are quite safe-especially if we educate our patients to occlude their puncta.

In the past couple of years, there has been discussion regarding dental and oral health-specifically the oral biomicrome-as possibly having a relationship to glaucoma.

Let’s examine what this specific (and separate) scan pattern can offer diagnostically

Before the new year gets too far along, let’s take a brief look at the happenings in the pages of Optometry Times during 2016.

As your patients celebrate another birthday milestone, they are again back in your chair wondering why their reading glasses mysteriously disappear when they are out exploring life or why their arms are not as long as they used to be.

Recently, I received a progress note from a glaucoma surgeon concerning a patient whom he and I share. The patient is a 58-year-old African-American female with a longstanding history of primary open-angle glaucoma.

Ben Gaddie, OD, FAAO, Optometry Times Editorial Advisory Board member, noted several specific areas that were advancing to give ODs better data and better control over patient health outcomes, including: • Corneal mechanics • 24-hour IOP monitoring • New glaucoma drugs and drug delivery systems • Advancements in OCT imaging

Glaucoma isn’t being treated aggressively enough, and eyecare practitioners are being too cautious when it comes to treating and diagnosing the disease-often at the patient’s expense.

After speaking at last week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, New Mexico OD Lisa Shin says more optometrists should get involved on a national level to keep optometry’s agenda at the forefront.

Not long ago, a colleague asked me if I performed Goldmann tonometry on all of my glaucoma patients. Without hesitation I said, “No.” When asked why not, I simply answered that not all of my patients are physically able to have the test performed on them.

The latest news and research you need to know about this week.