50 years in ophthalmology: Glaucoma advancements

Sunita Radhakrishnan, MD focused on what she saw in the clinic and highlighted the explosion of MIGS options as a game-changer. Radhakrishnan noted that the awareness of dry eye in glaucoma patients had been increasing, and the availability of more preservative-free medication options had been very helpful in the clinic. She has a personal interest in glaucoma and dry eyes, emphasizing the significance of these factors in their clinical practice.

Yvonne Ou, MD noted that with 15 years of experience outside of her training, she remembers the excitement around the development of MIGS. Ou believes that in the next few decades, the field needed to see better options for patients in terms of achieving better eye pressure control, whether through surgical or pharmacological means. As a clinician scientist, Ou worked on understanding how the retinal circuitry was affected in glaucoma and hoped to see the realization of neuroprotection and neuroenhancement in the coming years.

M. Roy Wilson, MD, MS shared a unique perspective, having transitioned from clinical glaucoma care to an administrative role and then back to patient care. Despite a 20-year hiatus from patient care, he feels they were resuming where he had left off, as not much had changed in the field. While MIGS surgery had become more prominent, Wilson noted that there were still a few innovative surgeries, medications, polymers, and non-invasive techniques that might offer new treatment options, though not all would be effective. They emphasized the importance of conferences like the one discussed for advancing the field of glaucoma care through the exchange of ideas and innovative approaches.