Long-term Outcome of Ahmed Glaucoma Valve Implantation in Eyes With Intractably Raised Intraocular Pressure Following Pars Plana Vitrectomy.

PRECIS: Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implantation led to a significant reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) and in antiglaucoma medications in vitrectomized eyes in previously nonglaucomatous eyes. The most common indication for vitrectomy was ocular trauma-related complications. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the long-term outcomes of AGV implantation in patients of uncontrolled IOP after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of patients (age 18 y and above) who underwent AGV implantation between January 2006 and December 2017 for uncontrolled IOP following PPV with ≥2 years follow-up were reviewed. The underlying etiology for PPV, IOP, best-corrected visual acuity, and number of antiglaucoma medications (AGMs) were recorded at baseline. The main outcomes measures were IOP, number of AGM, best-corrected visual acuity, and postoperative complications. Postoperative complications were classified as early (≤3 mo)/intermediate (>3 mo to ≤1 y), or late (>1 y). RESULTS: In all, 78 eyes of 78 patients with a mean age of 38.06±17.83 years were included. The mean follow-up was 70.46±36.96 (range: 24 to 180) months. The main underlying etiology for PPV was trauma (38.4%) followed by rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (28.2%). The mean preoperative IOP was 29.33±9.84 mm Hg with an average of 4.07±1.2 AGM. The mean IOP and number of AGM was significantly reduced in all follow-up visits (P<0.0001) following AGV implantation. The cumulative probability of success was 92.3%, 80.7%, and 74% at 2, 5, and 10 years, respectively. Thirty-one complications were observed in 25 (32%) eyes and reoperation (23 procedures) was performed in 22 (28.2%) eyes. CONCLUSIONS: AGV implantation had good outcome in patients with intractably elevated IOP following PPV. Trauma-related pathologies were a major contributor to the indications for PPV and had more chances of failure following AGV implantation.

Iridocorneal endothelial syndrome: Evaluation of patient demographics and endothelial morphology by in vivo confocal microscopy in an Indian cohort.

Purpose: To evaluate the patient demographics and morphological characteristics of corneal endothelium by in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM), in patients with Iridocorneal Endothelial (ICE) Syndrome. Methods: In this retrospective observational series, IVCM acquired endothelial images of patients with ICE syndrome were evaluated. 'ICE cells' morphology was classified as "-" or "+" if they were larger or smaller than contralateral normal endothelium. It was correlated with patient demographics and clinical manifestations. Results: IVCM was performed on 41 eyes of 21 patients, with 13 males (62%) and 8 females (38%). The disease was unilateral in 19 (90.5%) and bilateral but asymmetric in two (9.5%) patients. Total ICE was seen in 91% eyes. Eighty percent patients (12 out of 15) with ICE-cells were males while 83.3% (5 out of 6) patients with ICE + cells were females. Mean age of patients with ICE- cell type and ICE + cell type was 45.8 ± 17.8 years and 40.3 ± 9.2 years respectively (P = 0.02). Both ICE - and ICE + eyes had similar incidence (33.3%) of corneal edema. ICE + eyes had more severe (grades 2/3) glaucoma (n = 5/6 eyes, 83.3%) compared to ICE - eyes (n = 8/15 eyes, 53.3%). Conclusion: A male preponderance, predilection of ICE - and + cell variants for male and female gender respectively, lack of association of the endothelial cell morphology with corneal edema, and apparent association of ICE + phenotype with more severe glaucoma occurring at a relatively younger age, are some novel findings of the present study. In the clinical setting correlation of patient demographics with these IVCM findings may help in better long-term prognostication of eyes with ICE syndrome.

A prospective randomized controlled study of Aurolab aqueous drainage implant versus Ahmed glaucoma valve in refractory glaucoma: A pilot study.

PURPOSE: To study the efficacy of the Aurolab aqueous drainage implant (AADI) compared to Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) in patients with refractory glaucoma. METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized controlled trial. Thirty-eight adult patients (>18 years) scheduled for a glaucoma drainage device (GDD) were randomized into two groups to receive either AGV or AADI. Primary outcome measures: intraocular pressure (IOP) control and requirement of antiglaucoma medications; secondary outcome measures: final best correct visual acuity (log MAR), visual field (Visual field index [VFI], mean deviation [MD] and pattern standard deviation [PSD]), postoperative complications and additional interventions. Complete success was defined as IOP ≥5-≤18 mmHg without antiglaucoma medications/laser/additional glaucoma surgery or any vision threatening complications. RESULTS: There were 19 age and sex-matched patients in each group. Both groups had comparable IOP before surgery (P = 0.61). The AGV group had significantly lower IOP compared to AADI group (7.05 ± 4.22 mmHg vs 17.90 ± 10.32 mmHg, P = <0.001) at 1 week. The mean postoperative IOP at 6 months was not significantly different in the two groups (13.3 ± 4.2 and 11.4 ± 6.8 mmHg respectively; P = 0.48). At 6 months, complete success rate according to antiglaucoma medication criteria was 78.94% in AADI and 47.36% in AGV groups. AGV group required 1.83 times more number of topical medications than AADI group. There was no significant difference in early (P = 0.75) and late (P = 0.71) postoperative complications in the AADI and AGV group. The complete success rate was higher in AADI group (68.42%) than AGV group (26.31%) (P = 0.034). CONCLUSION: In this study, AADI appears to have comparable efficacy versus AGV implant with higher complete success rate at 6 months follow-up.

Comparative evaluation of two toric intraocular lenses for correcting astigmatism in patients undergoing phacoemulsification.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of AT-TORBI plate haptic toric intraocular lens (IOL) (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany) and AcrySof loop haptic toric IOL (Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Fort Worth, TX, USA) for correcting preexisting astigmatism of ≥1 diopters (D) in patients undergoing phacoemulsification and to compare the rotational stability of these two toric IOLs. METHODS: In this prospective randomized controlled trial. Forty-two eyes of 42 cataract patients with preexisting astigmatism of 1 D or more were randomized to receive plate haptic toric (AT TORBI) or loop haptic toric (AcrySof) IOLs, with 21 in each group. Postoperative evaluation was done at day 1, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months. Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), best corrected visual acuity (VA), and IOL position were noted in both the groups. RESULTS: At 3 months postoperatively, the mean log MAR UDVA was 0.23 ± 0.20 and 0.20 ± 0.13 in Groups I and II, respectively (P = 0.7), the mean residual cylindrical refractive error in plate haptic toric group was 0.40 ± 0.31 D and in loop haptic group was 0.45 ± 0.33 D (P = 0.64). The mean IOL rotation at 3 months follow-up in plate haptic group was found to be 3.52 ± 3.84° and in loop haptic group was 2.05 ± 2.56° (P = 0.25). CONCLUSION: Both types of toric IOLs were equally efficacious for attaining good uncorrected VA and correcting preexisting astigmatism between 1-5 D. Both of them were rotationally stable at 3 months follow-up.