Posters

Short-term changes in corneal endothelial cell density following treatment with glaucoma drainage device

Poster Details

First Author: Y.Azses MEXICO

Co Author(s):    J. Gamiochipi Arjona   M. García Huerta   G. Lazcano Gómez   R. Gonzalez-Salinas   J. Jiménez Román        

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To describe the correlation between the tube length, the tube-tip-endothelium distance and the angle of entry to the anterior chamber (AC) with endothelial cell density (ECD) in patients with a glaucoma drainage device (GDD).

Setting:

This study was made in the glaucoma department of a third level hospital reference: Asociación Para Evitar la Ceguera in Mexico city, Mexico.

Methods:

We included 20 eyes of 20 patients that underwent GDD surgery. ECD was measured with specular microscopy at baseline, one-month, and at the three-months follow-up visits. Anterior segment OCT (AS-OCT) was performed to evaluate the tube position in the anterior chamber at the three-months visit. A Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was obtained between the tube length, the distance from the tube tip to corneal endothelium and the angle of entrance to the anterior camber. The Spearman test was employed for non-normal distributed data.

Results:

Mean patients age was 53.52+/-15.6 years. The most common diagnoses were neovascular glaucoma (54%), trauma-associated glaucoma (16.6%), and primary open angle glaucoma (16.6%). Mean preoperative ECD was 1859.7+/- 530.27 cells/mm2. Mean endothelial cell loss (ECL) at the postoperative one-month and three-months visits were 54.04+/-131.4 cells/mm2 (P = 0.203) and 87.63+/-189.1 cells/mm2 (P = 0.0002), respectively. We found significant correlation between tube-endothelium distance and the angle of entry into the AC with a decrease in ECD at the one-month, and three-months follow-up visits. No correlation between ECL and tube length was evidenced.

Conclusions:

A decrease in ECD is considered to be a critical complication in both the short and long-term for patients who underwent GDD. Surgeons must be aware that the shorter the distance from the tube tip to the endothelium and a shorter angle of entry into the AC might generate a significant decrease in ECD in order to prevent corneal descompensation.

Financial Disclosure:

None