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Canaloplasty yields significant, sustained IOP reduction in glaucoma patients
J Cataract Refract Surg. 2011;37(4): 682-690.
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Patients with open-angle glaucoma who underwent canaloplasty showed significant IOP reductions after 3 years, a study found.
The nonrandomized, multicenter trial included 157 eyes of 157 patients who underwent either canaloplasty or combined cataract-canaloplasty surgery.
In all eyes, IOP and glaucoma medication use showed significant reductions from baseline at every follow-up visit (P < .001).
At 3 years' follow-up, mean IOP decreased from 23.8 ± 5.0 mm Hg at baseline to 15.2 mm Hg ± 3.5. Mean glaucoma medication use decreased from 1.8 ± 0.9 to 0.8 ± 0.9 medications.
In eyes that underwent combined cataract-canaloplasty surgery, mean IOP was reduced from 23.5 ± 5.2 mm Hg at baseline to 13.6 ± 3.6 mm Hg at 3-year follow-up. Number of glaucoma medications decreased from 1.5 ± 1.0 to 0.3 ± 0.5 medications.
According to the authors, combined cataract-canaloplasty surgery could be more effective in lowering IOP than canaloplasty alone.
"It may be surmised that removal of the natural lens improves outflow by further increasing trabecular meshwork tensioning in conjunction with canaloplasty," they said.
In the late postoperative period, complications included cataract (12.7%), transient IOP elevation (6.4%), and partial suture extrusion through the trabecular meshwork (0.6%), according to the study.