[Vice Director Yoko Yoshida] SLT treatment

The other day, I attended a meeting on SLT (Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty) for the treatment of glaucoma, held at Wink Aichi in Nagoya Station!

In Europe, SLT is considered on the same level as glaucoma eye drops, and in the UK, SLT is given priority over eye drops. In the UK, they may be hoping to curb medical costs by encouraging SLT and limiting glaucoma eye drops. Globally, the trend seems to be that "it is more effective to perform SLT early, before there are no more treatment targets."

I have told patients up until now, "There is a laser treatment called SLT. Its advantage is that it rarely causes complications. However, the downside is that it is ineffective for 2-3% of patients. It is covered by insurance, but patients are responsible for 1% of the cost of each treatment, so it comes to about 3 yen for one eye."

I have been relatively reluctant to recommend it because I feel bad about spending 3 yen for something that may not be effective.

But in the future
"It is ineffective in about 2% of patients. One way to estimate whether the treatment will be effective is to try using Ripasudil eye drops. If Ripasudil eye drops are effective for you, then SLT, the laser treatment for glaucoma, can also be expected to be effective. We will prescribe Ripasudil eye drops once. There are almost no side effects.
It is covered by insurance, but the cost of treatment per visit is about 1 yen for one eye if you are responsible for 3% of the cost. However, if you have life insurance that covers outpatient surgery, you may be able to receive insurance money, so please check with your insurance company.
I will explain it as follows.

I had known about the connection with Ripasudil before, but I had never tried it. I regret that.

Not all glaucoma patients are eligible. There are some types of glaucoma that should never be treated with SLT. These are secondary glaucoma with active inflammation and neovascular glaucoma. Care must be taken to determine suitability.
Some people find eye drops for glaucoma bothersome, and some are allergic to eye drops. We have high hopes for the effectiveness of early glaucoma laser treatment, so we will continue to recommend it.

As I have written before, I am currently undergoing SLT. The instructor said that SLT is like cleaning a filter, and that it is good to do it regularly.
I'm thinking about getting my second SLT soon. Dr. Takagi will start outpatient treatment at our hospital from April, and he did my first SLT, so I'm thinking of asking him to do it again in April.