Week 3 - Brian

This week I was in the OR observing both cornea and glaucoma surgeries. The most interesting glaucoma surgery entailed the repositioning of a drainage stent that was irratating the patient. Basically, these stents are used to drain fluid from the medial area of the eye into the tear drainage duct located near the lower eyelid. The tube used for drainage is extremely small (~1-2 mm diameter) so it does not irratate the patient after implantation. The surgery proved to be successfull in bringing the patient's intraocular pressure (IOL) back to normal levels. This increase in IOL pressure could lead to retina damage and blindness down the road. I also witnessed a cornea transplant surgery called Descemet's stripping with endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK), which is considered the future of cornea transplant surgery. This surgery is minimally invasive (<2mm incission) and a nearl sutureless procedure. It was intriguing to witness such a minimally invasive method of doing a transplant. The surgeons first make a small incission in the periphery of the cornea and then use instrumentation to remove the back layer of the cornea. Next a donor cornea back layer is replaced in its stead. This procedure can work for nearly 80% of the current corneal tranpslant procedures in the US.