Purpose
To investigate the relationship between preoperative factors and intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction after phacoemulsification in glaucoma patients.
Methods
Retrospective review of consecutive glaucoma patients without prior incisional glaucoma surgery undergoing phacoemulsification between January 1997 and October 2011, who had at least one year of follow-up. Pertinent clinical information prior to surgery was recorded. This included demographic information, diagnosis subtypes, mean preoperative IOP, postoperative IOP at 1 year, glaucoma medications, disease severity indices, ophthalmic biometry and treatment measures. Stastiscal analysis was performed using Spearman’s correlation and 2-tailed paired Student t test.
Results
We included 219 eyes of 219 patients. The average age was 74.17 ± 9.86 years, 127 (58%) were female, and 163 (74%) were Caucasian. Visual field mean deviation was -5.59 ± 6.75 (mean ± S.D.) while pattern standard deviation was 4.19 ± 3.19. The mean preoperative IOP was 16.42 ± 3.56 mmHg, and the postoperative IOP at 1 year was 14.82 ± 3.43 mmHg. The mean pre-operative number of medications was 1.86 ± 1.03 and the mean post-operative number of medications was 1.88 ± 1.09. Intraocular pressure reduction at 1 year after surgery was not related to age, sex, type of glaucoma, preoperative refraction, axial length, anterior chamber depth, gonioscopy grade, central corneal thickness, preoperative number of medications, previous laser procedures, or visual field parameters (P = 0.147-0.964). However 1-year postoperative IOP was strongly associated with the mean preoperative IOP (P <0.001) (Figure).
Conclusions
A modest IOP reduction occurred after phacoemulsification in glaucoma patients. The IOP reduction was proportional to the mean preoperative IOP; higher mean preoperative IOP was associated with a greater reduction in IOP.
Keywords: 568 intraocular pressure •
445 cataract