Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the surgical results of Ahmed valve implant surgery with adjunctive mitomycin C and selective postoperative 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) subconjunctival injection with a needling procedure.
Methods
In this retrospective study, 40 eyes of 40 patients who had undergone Ahmed valve implant surgery with adjunctive mitomycin C were observed for at least 1 year. The Ahmed valve was implanted after 5-minute application of 0.04% mitomycin C. Selective 5-FU injection with a needling procedure was performed during the follow- up period based on intraocular pressure (IOP). Hypertensive phase was defined as IOP higher than 21 mm Hg within 3 months after operation. IOP higher than 18 mm Hg regardless of IOP-lowering medications at 2 consecutive visits was considered to be a surgical failure.
Results
The mean follow-up period was 35.5 ± 12.4 months. Preoperative intraocular pressure was 32.8 ± 7.5 mm Hg, which decreased to 14.0 ± 4.2 mm Hg postoperatively. The number of glaucoma medications decreased significantly from 3.8 ± 0.5 to 2.0 ± 1.0. Eleven of 40 eyes (27.5%) experienced hypertensive phase at 6.0 ± 3.1 weeks after surgery. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed cumulative probability of surgical success rates of 82.5%, 79.6%, 72.7%, and 58.8% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 postoperative years respectively. There were no risk factors that affecting surgical failure except age (hazard ratio = 0.17, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Ahmed valve implant surgery with adjunctive mitomycin C and selective 5-FU injection with a needling procedure showed good success in refractory glaucoma.
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![]() | Figure 1.Intraocular pressure following Ahmed valve implantation with adjunctive intraoperative mitomycin C and selective postoperative 5-fluorouracil injection and needling revision. |
![]() | Figure 2.Kaplan-Meier curve of the cumulative probability of valve success for Ahmed valve-implanted eyes. Study group (40 eyes) received Ahmed valve implantation and intraoperative MMC. Failure was defined as the first occurrence of any of the following events during initial postoperative period: 1) IOP >18 mm Hg or <6 mm Hg for two consecutive visits or <20% IOP reduction from baseline, 2) need for additional surgery to repair a malfunctioning Ahmed valve except 5-fluorouracil injection, or 3) serious postoperative complications including visual acuity loss. MMC = mitomycin C; IOP = intraocular pressure. |
Table 1.
Baseline characteristics for Ahmed valve-implanted eyes
Table 2.
U nivariate Cox regression analyses of predictors of surgical failure with the Ahmed valve implantation
Table 3.
Multivariate Cox regression analyses of predictors of surgical failure with the Ahmed valve implantation*
Variable | HR | 95% CI | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Age (years) | |||
55≤ vs. <55 (ref.) | 0.17 | 0.04-0.81 | 0.02 |
Gender | |||
Male vs. Female (ref.) | 0.45 | 0.14-1.45 | 0.18 |
Preop VA (log MAR) | 0.56 | 0.26-1.17 | 0.12 |
Table 4.
Univariate logistic regression analyses of predictors of visual acuity loss with the AGV implantation
Table 5.
Complications after implantation of Ahmed valves
Complication | No. of patients (n, %) |
---|---|
Hyphema | 4 (10.0) |
Hypotony | 11 (27.5) |
Choroidal detachment | 4 (10.0) |
Shallow A/C | 3 (7.5) |
Tube reposition | 3 (7.5) |
Tube exposure | 2 (5.0) |
Hypertensive phase | 11 (27.5) |
Table 6.
Previously published estimated probability of valve success from studies of Ahmed valve implantation
Postoperative year |
Definition of failure (consecutive visits)* | Subject |
Antimetabolite |
Plate | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st year | 2nd year | 3rd year | 5th year | MMC | 5-FU | ||||
Netland et al13 | 0.73 | 0.62 | 0.20 | >21 (2) mm Hg | NVG | − | − | Silicone/polypropylene | |
0.89 | 0.81 | 0.81 | Refractory glaucoma without NVG | − | − | ||||
Souza et al14 | 0.8 | 0.73 | 0.63 | 0.49 | >21 (2) mm Hg or <15% | Refractory glaucoma | − | Silicone/polypropylene | |
Kim and Shin15 | 0.88 | 0.71 | 0.62 | >21 (2) mm Hg | NVG | − | − | ||
Lee et al16 | 0.58 | 0.47 | 0.4 | >21 mm Hg or <30% | Refractory glaucoma | − | + | Polypropylene | |
Lim et al17 | 0.38 | 0.19 | >18 (3) mm Hg or <20% | NVG | − | − | Silicone | ||
0.83 | 0.44 | + | + | ||||||
Yoon and Park18 | 0.76 | >18 (3) mm Hg or <20% | NVG | + | + | Silicone | |||
Alvarado et al7 | 0.92 | 0.87 | 0.82 | 0.72 | >18 (3) mm Hg or <20% | Refractory glaucoma | + | + | Polypropylene |
This study | 0.85 | 0.79 | 0.72 | 0.58 (4 year) | >18 (2) mm Hg or <20% | Refractory glaucoma | + | + | Silicone |
Table 7.
Rate and onset of postoperative hypertensive phase