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Pilot study on combined PDT, trabeculectomy promising
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Combining trabeculectomy with photodynamic therapy may give surgeons a new means by which to prolong bleb survival, according to a pilot study. Preliminary results show most eyes had reduced intraocular pressure after undergoing the procedure.
Jens F Jordan, MD, and colleagues at the University Eye Hospital in Cologne, Germany, enrolled 42 eyes of 36 patients with glaucoma in the pilot study. Each eye received a subconjunctival injection of a photosensitizing drug followed by an intraoperative illumination with blue light for 8 minutes. Mean preoperative intraocular pressure was 31.6 mm Hg. Follow-up was 496 days.
In 25 eyes, IOP decreased to 15.8 mm Hg without medication; seven achieved IOP levels of less than 21 mm Hg with medication. Ten eyes were considered failures because of scarring that developed between 2 and 67 weeks postop.
The study is published in the July issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.