Comparison between primary Ahmed valve implantation and primary trabeculectomy with mitomycin C in pseudophakic patients with exfoliative glaucoma.

Abstract

To compare the efficacy and safety of primary Ahmed valve implantation (AVI) and primary trabeculectomy with mitomycin C (MMC) in patients with pseudophakic exfoliative glaucoma (XFG). All enrolled patients were divided into two groups: the TRAB group, comprising patients who underwent trabeculectomy with MMC, and the AVI group, comprising patients who underwent AVI. Intraocular pressure (IOP), mean deviation (MD), endothelial cell density of cornea (ECD), and the number of topical anti-glaucoma agents used during study period were retrospectively analyzed. Surgical success rates were compared between two groups using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Three levels of surgical success were defined as follows: (1) IOP ≤ 18mmHg and an IOP reduction of 20% without medication; (2) IOP ≤ 15mmHg and an IOP reduction of 25% without medication; and (3) IOP ≤ 18mmHg and an IOP reduction of 20%, irrespective of medication. The TRAB and AVI groups comprised 40 and 36 patients, respectively. At 36months postoperatively, IOP was 15.7 ± 2.8mmHg in the TRAB group and 16.9 ± 3.3mmHg in the AVI group (p = 0.140). Surgical success rates in the TRAB group were 47.5, 37.5, and 77.5% and those in the AVI group were 41.6, 33.3, and 75.0% at 36months for surgical criteria 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in the success rates between the two groups. However, regarding surgical criteria 2, the success rate of the AVI group at 1year was significantly better than that of the TRAB group (p = 0.030). Primary AVI was not inferior to primary trabeculectomy with MMC in medically uncontrolled patients with XFG.