Micro-stent demonstrates positive early results

Transcend Medical, Inc. this week announced preliminary results showing that its CyPass Micro-Stent, when used in conjuction with cataract surgery, can reduce and stabilize IOP while minimizing the need for glaucoma medications.

Subjects of the multicenter European study were 238 patients with controlled (< 21 mmHg) or uncontrolled IOP who received the micro-stent during cataract surgery. Of the 40 eyes with uncontrolled IOP that reached the 12-month follow-up visit, there was a mean IOP reduction of 35 percent and a reduction in mean medication usage of 48 percent. In the controlled IOP group, all 73 eyes that reached the 12-month follow-up visit maintained a stable IOP and achieved a 75 percent reduction in mean medication usage. No serious adverse events were reported in either cohort.

According to Transcend, the CyPass is the first micro-invasive glaucoma stent designed to reduce IOP by enhancing aqueous outflow to the supraciliary and suprachoroidal spaces. The device bypasses the ciliary body by creating a stented micro-cyclodialysis into the supraciliary space, thereby avoiding the trabecular meshwork and Schlemm's canal.

The CyPass is currently being studied in combination with cataract surgery in the COMPASS multicenter clinical trial, one of the largest randomized, controlled studies in surgical glaucoma to-date.