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Wearable, dropless reduction in intraocular pressure as an emerging therapy for glaucoma

Eye volume 37, pages 3047–3048 (2023)Cite this article

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We read with interest Quinn et al.’s paper on the association of topical glaucoma medications with lacrimal drainage obstruction and eyelid malposition [1]. The authors conducted a well-designed retrospective cohort study on all the individuals 66 years of age and older in Ontario, Canada with glaucoma using validated healthcare databases. From this population, two age and sex-matched cohorts were created: those with topical glaucoma medications (122,582 patients) and those not on those medications (232,336 patients). This study found that topical glaucoma medications (TGMs) were associated with a significantly increased risk of lacrimal drainage obstruction, entropion, and trichiasis, as well as increased risk for lacrimal drainage obstruction surgery [1]. The authors conclude that these findings support the growing role for therapies that may reduce/delay the use of TGMs [1].

As populations age worldwide, the global burden of glaucoma will become an even greater challenge worldwide. As noted by the study authors, alternative therapies to TGMs for glaucoma include microinvasive glaucoma surgery and laser trabeculoplasty. These are invasive procedures and are typically used to escalate care when non-invasive TGMs cannot solely control intraocular pressure (IOP). However, within this spectrum of non-invasive TGMs and invasive procedures, we’d like to highlight an emerging, non-invasive method of glaucoma control utilizing pressurized goggles to lower IOP and modulate the translaminar pressure gradient (TLPG).

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References

  1. Quinn MP, Kratky V, Whitehead M, Gill SS, McIsaac MA, Campbell RJ. Association of topical glaucoma medications with lacrimal drainage obstruction and eyelid malposition. Eye. Published online December, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-022-02322-w

  2. Samuelson TW, Ferguson TJ, Radcliffe NM, Lewis R, Schweitzer J, Swan R, et al. 8 h Safety evaluation of a multi-pressure dial in eyes with glaucoma: prospective, open-label, randomized study. OPTH. 2019;13:1947–53. https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S217736

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Funding

Equinox Ophthalmic, Inc. (Newport Beach, CA).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College Dublin School of Medicine, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

    Ethan Waisberg & Mouayad Masalkhi

  2. Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Joshua Ong

  3. Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Blanton Eye Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  5. The Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  6. Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, NY, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  7. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  8. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  9. Texas A&M College of Medicine, Bryan, TX, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  10. Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Andrew G. Lee

  11. Vance Thompson Vision, Sioux Falls, SD, USA

    John Berdahl

Authors
  1. Ethan Waisberg
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  2. Joshua Ong
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  3. Mouayad Masalkhi
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  4. Andrew G. Lee
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  5. John Berdahl
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Contributions

EW—conceptualization, writing. JO—conceptualization, writing. MM—review, intellectual support. AGL—review, intellectual support. JB—review, intellectual support.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Berdahl.

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Competing interests

JB is the founder and CEO of Equinox Ophthalmic, Inc. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Waisberg, E., Ong, J., Masalkhi, M. et al. Wearable, dropless reduction in intraocular pressure as an emerging therapy for glaucoma. Eye 37, 3047–3048 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02448-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02448-5

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