Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To analyse retinal thickness of the macula and depth of the anterior chamber in patients undergoing filtration surgery at different times of follow-up. Methods: 44 patients (45 eyes) who underwent a filtering procedure (35 with antimetabolites) were included in our prospective study. Macular thickness of the fovea and the extrafoveal retina were measured using optical coherence tomography (OCT, Zeiss-Humphrey). Depth of the anterior chamber was determined using the IOLMaster (Zeiss Jena). A standard clinical examination and measurements of retinal thickness and anterior chamber depth were performed prior to surgery, at the 2nd day (1-3 days) as well as 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after surgery. Results: Preoperative IOP under topical medication was 25.5±7.5 mmHg. IOP was significantly decreased at all postoperative visits (p<0,0001), 10.8±5.9 mmHg at the 2nd day, 10.4±5.2 mmHg after 1 week, 11.7±4.4 mmHg after 1 month and 11.4±3.6 mmHg after 3 months respectively. No patient in our study suffered from prolonged postoperative hypotony (IOP<5 mmHg). Foveal thickness at the 2nd day, 1 week and 1 month visits were significantly elevated compared to baseline (p<0,004). Macular thickness changed from 164±20 µm before surgery to 168±20 µm after 2 days, 170±21 µm after 1 week, 173±19 µm after 1 month and 165±16 µm after 3 months. Mean thickness of the extrafoveal retina did not change significantly. Also there were no significant changes of anterior chamber depth. There was no significant correlation between reduction of IOP and retinal thickness or anterior chamber depth. Conclusion: The reduction of IOP after filtration surgery leads to a moderate increase in foveal retinal thickness over approximately 1 month and is not associated with significant shallowing of the anterior chamber, provided that prolonged postoperative hypotony is avoided with the surgical technique used.
Keywords: 460 macula/fovea • 317 anterior chamber • 444 intraocular pressure