Gulizar Demirok
Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Turkey
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Ophthalmol
Purpose: To report the complications necessitating Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) explantation. Methods: The study comprises the medical records of 11 patients who underwent AGV removal. Indication for placement, AGV model, age at time of surgery, gender, diagnosis, and intraocular pressure (IOP) values before and after AGV implantation, surgeries before AGV implantation, duration with AGV, reason for explantation, repairing attempts prior explantation, medications and outcomes without implant of patients were collected. Results: One hundred and eighty one eyes received AGV and eleven of them (6.07%) underwent explantation between April 2002 and January 2016. Single-layer pericardial patch graft was used for all during the implantation. The reason of the AGV explantation in all was spontaneous tube exposure except two eyes who diagnosed endopthalmitis and traumatic tube exposure. The mean IOP was 33.36�±8.25 and 14.45�±6.26 mmHg before and one month after the AGV implantation, respectively. The surgical success rate was 54.5%. The mean time with AGV was 40.13�±40.10 (range: 4-108) months in all cases. The mean IOP was 13.27�±6.77 mmHg just before the explantation and 26.09�±12.24 mmHg one month after the explantation with the mean 3.18�±1.78 medication. Conjunctival repairing was attempted in three patients, but they need explantation in two weeks because of recurrent tube erosion. Conclusions: This is the most comprehensive study about AGV explantation, since 11 subjects have been reported as first. Actually, tube exposure which may be both early and late complication, is the main reason for explantation. According to the results of this study, donor sclera or double-thickness pericardium patch grafts should be used in patients who have inflamed conjunctiva and eye rubbing potential and it should be carefully approached to all conjunctival erosions due to risk of endophthalmitis.
Email: gulizardemirok@hotmail.com
