preserflo

[ChrisNorthEast]

anyone had success with this op? What is the expected IOP afterwards

[Trish_GlaucomaUK Partner]

Hello ChrisNorthEast. There are couple of members of the forum who have undegone the Presaflo, and I'm sure they will respond to your post.

Regarding the IOP, this will vary from person to person. It very much depends on the IOP you have prior to the surgery, and the target your consultant feels is right for you in stablising your glaucoma.

[ChrisNorthEast in reply to Trish_GlaucomaUK]

Thanks again Trish. Can the Glaucoma be stabilised? I.e. halted in its tracks with the right target IOP?

[Trish_GlaucomaUK Partner in reply to ChrisNorthEast]

If the IOP is controlled it reduces the risk of anymore progression, but no glaucoma treament guarantees that glaucoma will not progress. This is why monitoring is so important.

[Astilbe in reply to Trish_GlaucomaUK]

Hi, I had a Presserflo operation 18 months ago. I am sorry to say that I have had a lot of problems with it, although the clinic tells me that it does work for some people, so I was unfortunate.

the pressure was low initially for a month, then it went up to what it had been before (21/22). So I was back on the Timolol and Monopost as before plus continual steroids.

I learned after a while that scarring had blocked the end of the tube so it wasn't working.

I had a couple of injections in clinic to try and break up the tissue which didn't work.

10 weeks ago I had a cataract operation on the eye and more injections to try to break up the tissue. This has brought down the pressure to 7. But they told me that a cataract op does bring down pressure initially and now I am being monitored to see if it rises again. I don't know if the injections to break up the scarring has worked this time.

I am still on Timolol but not Monopost. Still on steroids (was 8 drops a day) although now being weaned off them. I am on IKervis as well to try and improve the eye surface.

My eye is feeling better than it has since the original operation and I am hopeful that my pressure does not rise too much again.

I had a trabulectomy in my other eye last October.

[ChrisNorthEast in reply to Astilbe]

Thank you so much for the reply. Fingers crossed for you

[muddledme in reply to ChrisNorthEast]

Hello ChrisNorthEast,

I have had two Preserflo shunts. The first in December 2020 when I had lost some vision in one eye and the second in the good eye as a preventative in March 2021.

At first I was told that I would have a Trab but then a week before the op I was advised to have the shunt. This happened early on during Covid and I wondered if it was to help reduce the risks , as it is supposed to be a bit less intrusive . At that time there were no Covid vaccines available.

Both ops were very straight forward with just a local anaesthetic.Every one kind and helpful.

Afterwards I was given about 6 weeks of very frequent eye drops , these were gradually tailed off. Also there were rules about not bending, lifting heavy objects or doing anything strenuous until the surgeon was happy with the result.

There were many frequent planned visits to the hospital .

The pressures were supposed to be kept about 10 -13 or so , but they have slowly increased and were recently both 17. I have normal tension glaucoma so I have informed the consultant's secretary in case he may want to add any glaucoma drops.

At the moment I just have lubricants for dry eyes. This problem has worsened since the operations, but unless the weather is very cold and dry or hot and dusty then I manage fairly well.

My sight has deteriorated a little since the ops but as I am 73 perhaps it is not surprising. I also have the complication of an epi - retinal membrane in one eye .

For over a year now I have just been to 2 virtual clinics , but they seemed to have been pleased with all the results .

I hope they explain everything to you carefully and you manage to get some excellent information from Glaucoma UK.

Please do ask if there is anything I have omitted ,

meanwhile best wishes.

[ChrisNorthEast in reply to muddledme]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I have a brain scan tomorrow then a meeting with the consultant a week on Thursday. I’m 46 so it’s a bit worrying.

[ChrisNorthEast]

Many thanks. Sounds a bit more reassuring.

[Toby_from_London]

Hi Chris,

I had microshunt surgery two months ago and everything has gone well so far, although of course I'm still being monitored.

I won't bore everyone with my story again but if you search for my posts hopefully your find some reassurance. I've learnt from this forum that everyone's experiences are different so I wish you well and do follow the aftercare instructions after surgery to give yourself the best chance of a successful outcome.

[Amjan]

I have just been offered to have Preserflo as my pressure is 28. I also would like to know other people's experience. Thanks.