Glaucoma Treatment in Turkey

Glaucoma treatment in Turkey is becoming an increasingly popular medical service among residents of Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East for a number of reasons:

• glaucoma treatment in Turkey is carried out in specialized clinics equipped to world standards and certified by JCI;
• treatment of all types of glaucoma in foreign patients is carried out by qualified ophthalmologists with extensive experience, who are trained in European and American clinics and are internationally recognized;
• doctors use advanced diagnostic equipment and high-tech methods for the treatment of all types of glaucoma;
• the cost of glaucoma treatment in Turkey is significantly lower than in leading European and Israeli clinics with the same quality and results;
• foreign patients are provided with comfortable conditions of stay, including successfully solving the problem of the language barrier.

Foreign patients can undergo diagnostics and treatment of glaucoma in Turkey at affordable prices in many public and private clinics. Each of them employs well-known doctors with extensive and successful experience in the treatment of this disease. To make the right choice in favor of a particular clinic and/or choose an ophthalmologist for the treatment of glaucoma in Turkey, they are usually helped by an experienced operator, for example, the Experts Medical service.

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that causes damage to the optic nerve. If left untreated, it can lead to complete loss of vision. According to WHO, glaucoma is the 2nd leading cause of blindness worldwide, can occur at any age, but is 6 times more common in people over 60 years of age. As a rule, both eyes are affected.

Normally, a clear liquid circulates in the eye, which provides nutrition to various structures. It fills the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye. The excretion of fluid occurs through the drainage system of the eye, the trabecular network, and channels at the angle of the anterior chamber, which forms the iris and cornea. When the outflow is disturbed, fluid accumulates in the eyes, which causes an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP). High pressure in the eyes gradually leads to damage to the blood vessels of the retina, the optic nerve, and loss of vision.

Glaucoma can be primary and secondary. Primary associated with the pathology of the drainage system of the eye. Secondary glaucoma occurs due to other diseases of the eye (inflammation, cataracts, diabetic changes, thrombosis, trauma, tumors, etc) or after unsuccessful ophthalmic surgery.

In modern ophthalmology, among the 20 different types of glaucoma, there are several main ones:

• Open-angle glaucoma, in which the drainage system of the eye is not functioning but the angle of the anterior chamber of the eye is normal. It occurs in 90% of patients, develops gradually, and is often asymptomatic.
• Angle-closure (narrow-angle) glaucoma, in which the angle between the iris and the cornea is significantly narrowed, making it difficult for fluid to drain from the eye. It develops rapidly with symptoms that may come on suddenly, in the form of an attack with loss of vision.
• Normal IOP glaucoma, which occurs in 1 in 3 people with this disease and develops when IOP is normal or slightly elevated.
• Congenital glaucoma, which occurs due to improper intrauterine formation of the drainage channels of the eye.

Ophthalmologists distinguish four stages of glaucoma – from initial, asymptomatic (I) to terminal with loss of visual function (IV). In the absence of treatment, the disease progresses, and symptoms appear, including visual impairment.

At II-III stages of the disease, patients with glaucoma may have the following manifestations of the disease:

• pain, discomfort, and feeling of fullness in the eyes;
• redness of the eyes;
• headache, nausea, and vomiting;
• glare, black flies, meshes, iridescent circles in the eyes, iridescent halos around light sources, photophobia, blurred vision;
• narrowing of the visual field, loss of peripheral or lateral vision (blind spots), sometimes sudden, in the form of seizures.

With these symptoms, it is urgent to undergo an ophthalmological examination. With the early and timely diagnosis of glaucoma, for example, with the help of an ophthalmological check-up in Turkey, it is possible to stop the development of the disease and preserve vision.

In Turkish ophthalmological clinics, specialists diagnose glaucoma using high-tech methods and the latest-generation equipment. They apply:

• optical coherence tomography (OCT), which allows assessing the state of the retina and optic nerve head, detecting glaucoma in the early stages;
• OCT angiography, which shows the condition of the fundus vessels and the blood supply to the optic nerve;
• dynamic contour tonometry (DTC) is an ultra-precise measurement of intraocular pressure with a special ophthalmic tonometer;
• digital flicker perimetry is an innovative method for checking peripheral vision in glaucoma;
• ophthalmoplethysmography is an examination of the blood supply to the eye in order to determine the prognosis of the disease;
• tonography is a determination of intraocular fluid circulation and IOP;
• gonioscopy is an examination of the anterior chamber angle between the iris and cornea;
• pachymetry is a technique for measuring the thickness of the cornea;
• fundus biomicroscopy is a study of intraocular structures and the fundus of the eye using special lenses and an ophthalmic microscope.

Such a comprehensive examination allows ophthalmologists to accurately determine the type and stage of the disease and select the most effective glaucoma treatment in Turkey.

The goal of treatment for glaucoma is to lower IOP by medication or surgery. Depending on the severity of the disease, glaucoma treatment options in Turkey include:

• drug therapy;
• laser procedures;
• microsurgical operations;
• combination therapy.

In the early stages, Turkish ophthalmologists prescribe eye drops and oral medications that reduce aqueous humor secretion and lower IOP. Doctors individually select effective latest-generation drugs and prescribe various combinations of medications.

Laser therapy is used to treat open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma. On an outpatient basis, without incisions, using various lasers, ophthalmologists perform several procedures:

• trabeculoplasty is the formation of additional holes in the trabecular network for the outflow of fluid in open-angle glaucoma;
• iridotomy is the formation of a hole in the iris to drain fluid in angle-closure glaucoma;
• cyclophotocoagulation is a laser treatment of the ciliary processes of the structures of the eye that secrete fluid to reduce its production.

In Turkish clinics, an innovative gentle laser procedure, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), is available. The surgeon uses a microscope to selectively remove certain cells of the trabecular meshwork. The procedure is performed under local anesthesia and takes about 15 minutes.

Turkish ophthalmic surgeons perform several types of operations for glaucoma:

• trabeculectomy modification of the trabecular network to normalize the outflow of fluid through the drainage channels of the eye;
• shunting is a formation of a new bypass channel (shunt) from the natural tissues of the eye or by implanting an intraocular valve (valve drainage system);
• minimally invasive variants of these operations (MIGS) using special micro-instruments, microscopic shunts, stents, and valves.

Minimally invasive trabeculectomy using the innovative Trabectome device is performed in Turkish clinics. The operation can be performed through a corneal incision up to 1.7 mm.

In complex and neglected cases of glaucoma and in the presence of cataracts, the surgeon simultaneously performs the removal of the lens with the establishment of an intraocular lens.

Glaucoma treatment in Turkey can be done in specialized medical institutions of various types:

• in one of the hospitals of a large network of ophthalmological clinics Dunyagoz;
• in ophthalmological centers (departments) of multidisciplinary clinics, for example, Medical Park, Acibadem, and Marmara University Hospital;
• modern private specialized medical centers such as Cagin Ophthalmology Hospital.

With a generally high level of ophthalmology in Turkey, each clinic has its own peculiarities in pricing, admission of foreign patients, conditions of stay, and provision of additional services. The service of Experts Medical will help choose the best option among many Turkish clinics and specialists.

The cost of laser or surgical treatment in Turkey depends on several factors: the status of the medical institution, the fame of the surgeon, and the type of intervention. On average, laser treatment costs $1,600. Trabeculectomy starts at $2,500 and bypass surgery starts at $2,300. The price of glaucoma treatment in Turkey is on average 40% lower than in Western Europe or Israel.

There are other benefits of antiglaucoma surgery in Turkey:

• ophthalmic surgeons have the most advanced operating techniques, so most operations are one-day surgery with a short rehabilitation period;
• many ophthalmological clinics offer a package of services “Laser or surgical treatment of glaucoma in Turkey” for foreign patients at a cost of $1500;
• the success rate of laser procedures and microsurgical operations for glaucoma, according to the leading clinics in Turkey, is 80-90%. This corresponds to European and world standards in modern ophthalmology.

Advanced equipment in Turkish eye clinics allows doctors to stop the progression of glaucoma and further loss of vision in patients.

You can go to Turkey for the treatment of glaucoma with the help of Experts Medical coordinators-doctors. To do this, you need to leave a request on the site and get feedback. After receiving medical documents, the patient will be consulted by a leading Turkish ophthalmologist and will be provided with a treatment plan and information about the price of glaucoma treatment in Turkey.

Specialists of Experts Medical will help choose a medical facility and a doctor based on your budget and personal preferences. They also organize the trip for the treatment of glaucoma in Turkey at the right time.