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Study: Clear corneal phaco can impair filtering bleb
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Cataract extraction with clear corneal phacoemulsification may be associated with a loss of function in a previously functioning glaucoma filter or an impairment of filtering bleb morphology, according to a study.
Janine Klink, MD, and colleagues at University Eye Hospital in Wuerzburg, Germany, evaluated 30 eyes of 30 patients who underwent clear corneal phaco after previously undergoing successful glaucoma filtering surgery. Mean IOP and filtering bleb morphology were assessed before surgery and at 3 days and 6 and 12 months after surgery. A control group of 36 patients with glaucoma who underwent clear corneal phaco but did not have previous filtering surgery was used for comparison.
At the 12-month follow-up visit, mean IOP increased after phaco by about 2 mm Hg from the preop mean in the patients who had previous filters. The control group showed an average IOP decrease of 2 mm Hg at 12 months.
Half the patients in the filtering group showed an IOP increase of more than 2 mm Hg, 11 had no difference in IOP, and four patients showed an IOP decrease. One year after surgery, the mean score of filtering bleb morphology decreased from 9.5 to 9.
The study is published in the June issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.