The iTrack canaloplasty microcatheter

A recent study found Nova Eye Medical’s iTrack ab-interno canaloplasty microcatheter significantly reduced intraocular pressure (IOP) and medication requirements for patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) up to six years after the procedure. 

Professor Norbert Koerber and Dr Simon Ondrejka, from the eyecare clinic Augencentrum Köln-Porz in Germany, recruited 22 patients and studied 27 eyes with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and pseudoexfoliative (PEX) glaucoma in the retrospective, single-centre study. 

At six-year follow-up, mean IOP was reduced significantly from 19.9 ±5.2mmHg at baseline to 14.6 ±3.3mmHg (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between standalone canaloplasty procedures and those combined with cataract surgery. Additionally, the mean number of medications were reduced by more than 50% from 1.9 ±1 to 0.9 ±0.9 (p=0.005) at six years, which the authors said is the longest follow-up for ab-interno canaloplasty available in the published literature. 

Prof Koerber said he was an early adopter of canaloplasty and a believer in its stent-free, tissue-sparing approach. “Unlike other MIGS procedures which stent or remove diseased tissue in the conventional outflow pathway, canaloplasty allows me to work with patient physiology to re-establish the natural flow of aqueous throughout the entire conventional outflow pathway, including the collector channels. Based on the results I have observed with ab-interno canaloplasty, I believe that its comprehensive approach, which targets and treats the trabecular meshwork, Schlemm’s canal and collector channels, contributes to its sustained duration of effect.” 

The full study is available here, https://journals.lww.com/glaucomajournal/abstract/9900/6_year_efficacy_

and_safety_of_itrack_ab_interno.285.aspx