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Cataract surgery alone may reduce IOP
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CHICAGO — Cataract surgery on its own is the most successful method of managing IOP, according to a speaker here.
Steven L. Mansberger, MD, MPH, discussed data from the retrospective Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study at Glaucoma Subspecialty Day preceding the joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
Steven L. Mansberger
Mansberger and colleagues examined study data to assess the reduction in IOP following cataract extraction.
The retrospective study excluded patients who had used ocular hypertension medications, had undergone trabeculectomy surgery, had prior glaucoma medication use, were aphakic or pseudophakic, or had less than 1 year of follow-up data.
The study group included eyes that underwent cataract surgery, while a control group included eyes with no history of cataract surgery.
In the cataract surgery group, IOP decreased 16.5% after cataract surgery, from 23.9 mm Hg at baseline to 19.8 mm Hg postoperatively (P < .001). At 36 months, mean postop IOP was still lower than mean preop IOP.
IOP decreased slightly in the control group, from 23.8 mm Hg at baseline to 23.4 mm Hg at final follow-up (P < .001).
A higher preop IOP was associated with a higher postop IOP, Mansberger said.
“Cataract surgery lowers IOP by 17% in untreated ocular hypertension patients, and the mean reduction in IOP persists for more than 3 years,” he said. “You still need to do surgery in some patients who have a high risk of glaucoma.”
Disclosure: Mansberger receives research support from Merck, the National Institute of Health, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and lecture fees from Merck. He is a consultant for Allergan, Santen, Glaukos and Alcon.