Experience in managing glaucoma filtration surgery complications with oral doxycycline: A case series.

PURPOSE: To report the clinical profile and effectiveness of oral doxycycline as a non-invasive treatment for glaucoma filtering surgery complications. METHOD: Prospective case series. RESULTS: Doxycycline is widely used in treating corneal melts, ocular surface diseases, meibomian gland disease, recurrent epithelial cell erosion, rosacea, and keratitis sicca. This prospective case series highlights the successful treatment of five patients with leaking blebs and conjunctiva erosion from glaucoma filtration surgery with the use of oral doxycycline. There was no adverse event reported in our cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that oral doxycycline may be a feasible non-surgical treatment modality due to its ability to inhibit collagenolysis, restore the Meibomian gland function, thereby stopping breakdown and promote conjunctival tissue healing.

Does peak intraocular pressure measured by water drinking test reflect peak circadian levels? A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: To determine whether there is a correlation between peak intraocular pressure (IOP) measured after water drinking test (WDT) and patient's peak daytime IOP. METHODS: Patients who were diagnosed with glaucoma, ocular hypertension and/or glaucoma-like discs were enrolled in this prospective observational pilot study. All subjects underwent daytime IOP measurement by a single observer using a Goldmann Applanation Tonometer at 3-h intervals. Subjects were then given 10 mL/kg body weight of water to drink over 5 min; IOP was measured every 15 min for an hour. Correlations between peak IOP and IOP fluctuations as measured by the two methods were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients were recruited for the study. There were 16 males and 9 females. The mean age was 68.8 +/- 8.7 years (50-82 years), and 48% had primary open angle glaucoma. The mean peak IOP measured by diurnal testing (15.52 +/- 3.6 mm Hg) was not statistically different from that measured by WDT (15.92 +/- 3.2 mm Hg) (P = 0.7). The mean fluctuation in IOP measured during the day (2.32 +/- 1.3 mm Hg) was also not significantly different from that measured by WDT (2.24 +/- 1.2 mm Hg) (P = 0.8). Though peak IOP measured during diurnal testing showed strong correlation with peak IOP during WDT (r = 0.876), IOP fluctuation measured by the two tests showed poor correlation (r = -0.0789). CONCLUSION: WDT may provide a satisfactory alternative measure of peak IOP in a clinic setting. A larger sample is required to assess whether it is a good measure of IOP fluctuation.