Baerveldt or Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation with pars plana tube insertion in Japanese eyes with neovascular glaucoma: 1-year outcomes

Purpose: To describe the 1-year surgical outcomes of both Baerveldt glaucoma implant (BGI) and the Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implant with pars plana tube insertion in Japanese eyes with neovascular glaucoma (NVG). Patients and methods: This was a retrospective study of 21 eyes of 18 patients who had undergone BGI (10 eyes) or AGV (11 eyes) implantation. The 1-year surgical outcomes in the two groups were compared. Surgical success was defined as an intraocular pressure (IOP) of 6–21 mmHg (criterion A) or 6–18 mmHg (criterion B) with >20% reduction regardless of the use of antiglaucoma medications. Results: The mean preoperative IOP was 33.9±6.6 mmHg in the BGI group and 30.9±5.3 mmHg in the AGV group ( P =0.31). The IOP at 1-year was lower in the BGI group at 10.3±5.9 mmHg than in the AGV group at 14.8±3.3 mmHg ( P =0.044). The mean number of glaucoma medications at 1 year was 1.0±1.3 in the BGI group and 1.4±1.4 in the AGV group ( P =0.57). The incidence of postoperative complications during the 1-year follow-up was not statistically different between the two groups; however, one eye in the BGI group lost light perception after additional surgery for Hoffman elbow exposure. The 1-year success rates of the BGI group was 60.0% and that in the AGV group was 90.9% based on criterion A ( P =0.095), and 50.0% and 81.8% based on criterion B ( P =0.074). Conclusions: Significant reductions of the IOP and number of glaucoma medications were achieved at 1 year after both types of implants in Japanese eyes with NVG. Keywords: neovascular glaucoma, Baerveldt, Ahmed, glaucoma drainage device, pars plana tube insertion