Studying Glaucoma from Surgical Complications

What:  A new mouse model may lead to better understanding of a form of glaucoma caused by eye surgery.

Where: “Silicone Oil-Induced Ocular Hypertension and Glaucomatous Neurodegeneration in Mouse,” eLife, 2019.

BrightFocus Ties: Yang Hu, MD, PhD, of Stanford University, received a grant for this work from the BrightFocus Foundation’s National Glaucoma Research program.

Why It’s Important: Acutely increased eye pressure leading to glaucoma is a postoperative complication that can happen after retinal surgery that involves the use of silicone oil to “plug” the surgical site.  This oil is lighter than other eye fluids and may accumulate on the surface, blocking eye drainage, thereby generating stable, robust eye pressure elevation and significant neurodegeneration. Authors report on their experiments to recreate and study this problem in animal models. These models will be a valuable tool to facilitate the selection of neuroprotectants and also investigate the cause of increased ocular pressure-induced glaucoma.