OKC surgeon leads the way with vision-saving glaucoma surgery

An Oklahoma surgeon is among the first in the world to perform a brand new surgery to treat glaucoma.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - An Oklahoma surgeon is among the first in the world to perform a brand new surgery to treat glaucoma.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness around the world. The optic nerve disease affects three million Americans; one in five will go blind, even with treatment.

For the past ten years, researchers have been testing a microscopic device, implanted in the eye to treat glaucoma.

One of the very first FDA-approved procedures in the world was done right here in Oklahoma on February 14, 2024.

It's a cutting edge medical advancement called iDose.

"There's no cure for glaucoma, but the treatments slow the progression down significantly," said Opthalmologst Dr. Steve Sarkisian.

Traditionally, glaucoma treatment includes laser procedures, eye surgery and, for most, eye drops.

"I have a saying, 'Friends don't let friends be on four bottles of glaucoma eye drops.'" Dr. Sarkisian joked.

For 80 percent of patients, drops can control eye pressure and prevent optic nerve damage, but there are challenges.

Eye drops can be expensive. Elderly patients often forget to consistently use the drops and have trouble self-administering an effective dose.

"I was putting ten different eye drops in my eye, in one day," said glaucoma patient, Jo Ann Bellmon. "And you have to wait 10 to 15 minutes between drops, and so it seemed like all I was doing was putting eye drops in."

Bellmon, 70, was diagnosed with glaucoma ten years ago. It is the same disease that stole her mother's vision.

"Since my mom went blind with glaucoma and macular degeneration, I was real concerned, and I didn't want to go down the same path," said Bellmon. "I do a lot of praying about my eyes. Every day I pray God will increase my sight and not let it get worse."

For Bellmon, iDose is an answer to her prayers. It's a tiny, titanium device surgically implanted in the eye of eligible patients to deliver a constant flow of the concentrated glaucoma medication Travoprost.

"(It's) remarkable in its management," Dr. Sarkisian said. "One iDose is equivalent to 2,180 eye drops."

The iDose sustained-release technology means patients can expect tight management of their eye pressure for up to three years.

Fellowship-trained glaucoma surgeon, Dr. Sarkisian was the leading recruiter for the phase 3 trial for iDose.

On Valentine's Day, he became one of the very first in the world to perform the iDose surgery with FDA approval.

Patients are awake for the procedure, only slightly medicated. It takes just a few minutes to anchor the iDose implant inside the eye.

"Hopefully one of these days I won't have to take any drops!" Bellmon said.

She is having great success with the iDose device in her left eye. Bellmon hopes do her right eye soon.

"Every day I come to work and get to work to push back the darkness for my patients is such a joy," said Dr. Sarkisian. "I love every second of my life, and it's part of things like this being early adopter of new technology that just great, gives me great excitement."

Right now, Dr. Sarkisian is the only doctor in Oklahoma doing the iDose surgery. Many more are expected to offer the surgery in the future.

Dr. Sarkisian did three iDose procedures on Valentine's Day. All three were medicare patients. Medicare is expected to pay for the FDA-approved procedure.

However, medical breakthrough surgeries often take several months to be approved.

For every iDose sold, creator Glaukos pledges to provide an equal number to charity.