A comparison of the Ex-PRESS™ mini glaucoma shunt with standard trabeculectomy in the surgical treatment of glaucoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To compare the success and complication rates of patients with glaucoma who had an Ex-PRESS mini glaucoma shunt device implantation (Optonol, Ltd., Neve Ilan, Israel) to those who had conventional trabeculectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS The records of 76 eyes of 69 consecutive subjects who had Ex-PRESS implants and 77 eyes of 65 consecutive controls who had trabeculectomy procedures were reviewed. All surgeries were performed by one of the authors (LWH). Success was defined as an intraocular pressure (IOP) between 5 and 21 mm Hg in patients who did not require further glaucoma surgery in the eye of note. RESULTS The difference in the percentage of cases of postoperative hypotony between the standard trabeculectomy group (16%) and the Ex-PRESS group (4%) was statistically significant (P = .023). CONCLUSION The Ex-PRESS device is at least as effective as the standard trabeculectomy in lowering the IOP of patients with glaucoma, with a significantly lower risk of postoperative hypotony. The data further suggest that the Ex-PRESS device results in an overall greater percentage reduction in IOP than with trabeculectomy, although this did not reach statistical significance.