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Goniosurgery decreases risk of childhood aniridic glaucoma, surgeon says
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SAN FRANCISCO — Goniosurgery helps hereditary aniridia patients reduce their risk of developing glaucoma secondary to progressive abnormalities of filtration angle structures, according to a surgeon speaking here.
David S. Walton, MD, and colleagues conducted a study of goniosurgery performed on 55 aniridic children under 10 years of age. Dr. Walton presented the results at the American Glaucoma Society's annual meeting.
The researchers identified significant progressive filtration angle defects in 43 of the 55 children and performed 127 goniosurgery procedures in 78 eyes. Of these procedures, 47 eyes had two procedures with an average of 273° of angle surgery and 30 eyes had one procedure with 151° of goniosurgery.
At 7 years mean follow-up, 90% of eyes had IOP less than 22 mm Hg. Eight eyes of four patients developed IOP more than 22 mm Hg at an average age of 17.3 years, Dr. Walton said.
"Prophylactic goniosurgery can effectively decrease the risk of the development of acquired aniridic glaucoma in childhood," he said.