Newsletter 
SEARCH ARTICLES
NEWSLETTER
JORDAN PYSZ / iFoundMyDoctor.com
The implantation of an XEN Gel Stent, a drainage device about the size and shape of an eyelash, has lowered Susan’s intraocular pressure and preserved her vision.
Susan Boyd retired from IBM 25 years ago following a 33-year career with the technology giant. But that did not mean slowing down. For more than two decades, she has remained active with Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit organization that helps at-risk children succeed and older adults maintain independence.
“I volunteered with Seniors in Service for 11 years and was then on the board for 14 years, serving as chair for three of those years,” Susan shares. “I just finished my tenure on the board at the end of 2023.
“We operate the Foster Grandparent Program, a student mentoring project that many people know about. We place volunteers in the schools. I’ve always been a proponent of reading, and that’s one of the main areas of assistance our volunteers provide. They help kids individually with their reading and math skills, both of which are critical for their future success.”
Susan, 80, attended Northwestern University north of Chicago, served as a regent for the university and has been active in the school’s affairs. She began with IBM in Pittsburgh, where she lived for most of her childhood and young adulthood.
“I started out in a marketing position with the title ‘systems engineer’ and ended up in project management,” she recounts. “As a project manager in the early days of IBM, I was doing outsourcing. We took over the client’s responsibility for developing software. I managed large data processing software development projects.”
Despite her managerial skills, Susan was unable to control her intraocular pressure, a primary risk factor for glaucoma, a group of progressive diseases that cause vision loss by damaging the optic nerve in the back of the eye.
Intraocular pressure (IOP) increases when aqueous humor, the fluid that bathes and nourishes the front of the eye, can’t drain efficiently. The condition is typically treated with prescription eyedrops that either relax the muscles in the eye’s drainage system or inhibit the production of aqueous.
“The problem I had was that the drops would be effective for a while, but then they would stop working,” Susan laments. “So, I tried multiple types of eyedrops, but over time, my eye pressure continued to increase.
“After the drops failed, I could tell my vision wasn’t what it had been. It felt like I was in a little fog. I’ve always been nearsighted, but I had good corrected vision, so I knew something was wrong.”
Seeking answers, Susan visited a glaucoma specialist, but she wasn’t happy with the provider, so she asked her primary care physician for assistance. That doctor recommended The Eye Institute of West Florida, where Susan was treated by Amy Z. Martino, MD, a board-certified, fellowship-trained glaucoma specialist.
Painless Option
Dr. Martino confirmed that Susan suffered from primary open-angle glaucoma, which develops when tiny deposits build up in the eye’s drainage channels (trabecular meshwork) and slowly clog them so the aqueous humor can’t drain efficiently.
“When I first met Ms. Boyd two years ago, her eye pressures were running in the high 40s,” Dr. Martino recalls. “Normal eye pressure is around 10 to 20 for most patients. If left alone, her high pressures could damage her optic nerve and lead to irreversible vision loss.
“Over the years, Ms. Boyd received various treatments to lower her eye pressure with minimal success, including eyedrops and laser procedures. Ultimately, I recommended surgery to implant the XEN® Gel Stent, a tiny device that creates a new drainage pathway.
“The XEN Gel Stent is not a first-line treatment. It’s for patients who have failed other therapies, including eyedrops and laser treatments, so she was a good candidate.”
The XEN Gel Stent is about the size and shape of an eyelash, Dr. Martino describes. During a minimally invasive procedure, it is placed underneath the eyelid on the sclera, or white part of the eye. It provides an alternate bypass for the aqueous humor to go from the front of the eye into tiny blood vessels behind the eye to be drained.
“The surgery is an outpatient procedure that is performed in our surgery center,” Dr. Martino notes. “It takes about 10 minutes and is done using topical anesthesia. The surgery involves no sutures, and typically there’s no pain afterward. The success rate is about 80 percent.
“XEN surgery is very low risk compared to some of the alternatives we had in the past, such as trabeculectomy and tube shunts, which were invasive, lengthy procedures requiring multiple sutures. Patients receiving those procedures often had very painful postoperative recoveries. With XEN surgery, patients have a much safer, quicker and painless surgical option to treat their glaucoma.”
Dr. Martino stresses that the XEN is not visible without a slit lamp, a microscope used to examine the eyes. She also assures that patients can’t feel the stent in their eye because it’s placed underneath the conjunctiva, or surface layer of the eye.
Dr. Martino performed XEN surgery on Susan’s right eye on June 1, 2022, and her left eye two weeks later.
“She’s had an excellent outcome,” Dr. Martino confirms. “Currently, her eye pressure is down to 13 in both eyes. Because her glaucoma was diagnosed and treated early, Ms. Boyd has not suffered any permanent vision loss. She’s also using no glaucoma drops at this time. I call her my poster child for the XEN stent.”
-Dr. Martino
“Terrific” Results
Like Dr. Martino, Susan is delighted with the results of her XEN surgery.
“My eye pressure has been terrific ever since I had the surgery, and I’m very pleased about that,” Susan enthuses. “I love that I don’t have to use any eyedrops because they weren’t the best to use.
“The fog in my vision improved as soon as my eye pressure went down. Putting in the stents fixed my pressure problem so I don’t end up with damage to my optic nerve, which is terrific.”
Susan remains impressed by the glaucoma specialist’s bedside manner and expertise.
“Dr. Martino is really good at listening to me and answering my questions, and I usually have a lot of them,” Susan raves. “She convinced me that XEN surgery was my best option.
“Not only is Dr. Martino knowledgeable about the XEN stent, she’s also done quite a few of the procedures; she’s very familiar with it. That gave me the confidence to try it. And I’m glad I did. I highly recommend it and The Eye Institute if West Florida to others with the problem I had.”
Leave a Reply