[Ahmed valve implantation for refractory glaucoma].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the short-term and long-term efficacy of Ahmed valve implantation for refractory glaucoma and discuss its intraoperative and postoperative complications and management.

METHODS

20 cases of refractory glaucoma underwent Ahmed valve implantation, including 9 cases of neovascular glaucoma, 7 cases of aphakic or pseudophakic glaucoma, 3 cases of congenital glaucoma and one primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma.

RESULTS

One month postoperatively, the intraocular pressure (IOP) was less than or equal to 2.8 kPa (1 kPa = 7.5 mmHg) in fifteen cases, with a total success rate of 75%. For cases with neovascular glaucoma, the success rate was 55.6%, while for the others, the rate was 90.9%. After six months of follow-up for 12 patients, the total success rate was 58.3%, for neovascular glaucomas and other glaucomas, the rate was 40.0% and 71.4%, respectively. The complications included transient hyphema, early postoperative hypotony, obstruction of the tube tip, tube touch to lens or cornea, tube exposure, exudative choroidal detachment and dropout of the plate.

CONCLUSION

Ahmed valve implantation is an effective method in the management of refractory glaucoma in spite of its unnegligible complications.