PURPOSE To evaluate preoperative characteristics and follow-up in rural China after trabeculectomy, the primary treatment for glaucoma there. METHODS Patients undergoing trabeculectomy at 14 rural hospitals in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces and their doctors completed questionnaires concerning clinical and sociodemographic information, transportation, and knowledge and attitudes about glauco...

PURPOSE To report a new technique of blunt needle revision with viscoelastic materials via the anterior chamber for the treatment of early failed filtering blebs and elevated intraocular pressure after trabeculectomy, in which digital ocular massage and laser suture lysis have been ineffective. METHODS A 27-gauge blunt needle attached to a syringe containing viscoelastic material was inserted...

AIM Biodegradable collagen glycosaminoglycan matrices (CGM) have been introduced to glaucoma filtration surgery in order to prevent scarring of the filtering bleb. In this retrospective case series, we describe a new surgical concept for treating symptomatic ocular hypotony following filtration surgery with mitomycin C by a secondary subconjunctival implantation of a CGM. METHODS Depending on...

BACKGROUND This study compared the efficacy of the EX-PRESS(®) glaucoma filtration device and trabeculectomy in primary open-angle glaucoma up to five years after surgery. METHODS Patients from a previously reported randomized, open-label, parallel-arm clinical trial in which 78 patients received either the EX-PRESS glaucoma filtration device or underwent a trabeculectomy were followed for up...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of trabeculectomy using single sutures or releasable sutures. METHODS This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of 61 patients who had undergone trabeculectomy using single sutures (n = 33, 54.1%) or releasable sutures (n = 28, 45.9%). The scleral flap was secured with a mean 3.9 (range 3-5) single sutures in 33 pati...

In 1989, Koslov et al. described ‘deep sclerectomy’ (DS): an ‘en-bloc’ resection of the external wall of Schlemm’s canal, along with corneal stroma adjacent to the anterior trabeculum and, more anteriorly, exposure of Descemet’s membrane over 4–5 mm. These structures were removed with a slice of sclera beneath a superficial scleral flap: hence the term deep sclerectomy. In 1998, Vaudaux et al. ...

PURPOSE To evaluate the effects of mitomycin C and a releasable suture technique on outcomes of primary trabeculectomy in primary glaucoma patients. METHODS A prospective analysis of patients who underwent primary trabeculectomy with a mitomycin C concentration of 0.2 mg/mL for 2 minutes. For closing the scleral flap, releasable sutures were used in 18 patients (17 eyes), Group 1, or permanen...

Current Opinion in Ophthalmology 2008, 19:149–154 Purpose of review Despite late modifications and enhancements, traditional penetrating glaucoma surgery is not without complications and is reserved for patients in whom pharmacologic treatment and/or laser trabeculoplasty do not suffice to control the intraocular pressure This article critically reviews recent advances in penetrating glaucoma s...