Antifibrotics up outcomes after ahmed glaucoma valve implant

(HealthDay)—Mitomycin C (MMC) and 5-flurouracil (5-FU) improve outcomes following Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implantation, according to a study published online Aug. 4 in Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology.

Qi N. Cui, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues examined the effect of MMC and 5-FU on treatment outcomes for 50 patients who received AGV implantation. Patients received intraoperative MMC followed by postoperative injections of MMC and/or 5-FU (+INJECTION) group (26 patients/eyes) or not (−INJECTION; 24 patients/eyes).

The researchers observed higher treatment success in the +INJECTION group versus the −INJECTION group (86 versus 58 percent; P = 0.04). At one, three, six, and 12 months, intraocular pressure was lower in the +INJECTION group versus the −INJECTION group. In the +INJECTION group, hypertensive phase (HP) occurred less often (3.8 percent, compared to 54 percent in the −INJECTION group; P = 0.021). At one, three, six, and 12 months, fewer medications were required by the +INJECTION group. Comparable complication rates were seen between the +INJECTION and −INJECTION groups (46.2 and 54.2 percent, respectively; P = 0.63).

"Adjuvant treatment with antifibrotics following AGV implantation decreased the HP and improved surgical outcomes without impacting complication rates at one year," the authors write. "This study postulates a role for antifibrotics in the postoperative management of AGV implantation."