EMORY OPHTHALMOLOGIST LEADS COURSE FOR SURGEONS ON MANAGING PEDIATRIC GLAUCOMAS


September 22, 1997


Media Contacts: Sarah Goodwin, 404/727-3366 - sgoodwi@emory.edu
http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/





Mary Gerard Lynch, M.D., and Allen D. Beck, M.D., glaucoma specialists from the Emory Eye Center in Atlanta, will present a course, "Surgical Management of Pediatric Glaucomas," at the American Academy of Ophthal-mology annual conference. The course is Tuesday, October 29, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. at McCormick Place in Chicago.



Drs. Lynch and Beck will present techniques for managing pediatric glaucomas, including goniotomy, trabeculotomy, antiproliferative-augmented trabeculectomy, seton implantation, and cyclodestruction. The course includes case studies and a panel discussion.



Dr. Lynch has developed a new surgical approach to treat congenital glaucoma. This new procedure is better than conventional methods because it requires only one surgery instead of three and significantly reduces the likelihood of scarring and developing nearsightedness.



The procedure, a refinement of 360 degree trabeculotomy, relieves the sight-stealing ocular pressure of glaucoma by opening the eye's tiny drainage system with a suture fragment made of polypropylene (Prolene).



"This technique has a success rate equal to that of standard trabeculotomy techniques and avoids many of the difficulties encountered with metal probes," Dr. Beck reported in a published study last year. The published account reported results of the technique performed on 15 children. The average age of the young subjects was 8.5 years. Eighty-seven percent of the children had successful results and required only one procedure instead of three.

(Both Drs. Lynch and Beck are available in Chicago during the Academy meeting, October 27-31, or afterwards in their offices in Atlanta.)




For more general information on The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, call Health Sciences News and Information at 404-727-5686, or send e-mail to hsnews@emory.edu.


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