Featuring a wide flange at its base, the new iStent inject W is designed to optimise stent visualisation and placement, enhance procedural predictability and increase confidence, said manufacturer Glaukos

Two-year outcomes in an Australian study comparing the implantation of iStent inject with Hydrus Microstent, found the iStent afforded a small additional reduction in glaucoma medication usage following cataract surgery compared with the Hydrus.

The observational study was conducted by the team behind the Fight Glaucoma Blindness (FGB) registry, part of the Save Sight Registries group at the University of Sydney. It reviewed the data of 344 eyes with mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma, normal-tension glaucoma or ocular hypertension, that underwent phacoemulsification combined with either insertion of Glaukos’ second-generation iStent inject (224) or Ivantis’ Hydrus Microstent (120). Both demonstrated sustained and similar intraocular pressure (IOP)-reduction with good safety in both groups, said researchers, with a mean medication reduction of 1.0 for iStent inject versus 0.5 for Hydrus (p=0.081). “5.4% of eyes in the iStent inject group and 7.5% of eyes in the Hydrus group required subsequent procedures to improve IOP control within 24 months. Complications were rare with no significant differences between the groups,” they added.