Clinical Experience with the Baerveldt 250-mm2 Glaucoma Implant
Presented in part at: American Glaucoma Society annual meeting, March 2004, Sarasota, Florida, and Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting, April 2004, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Received 6 May 2005; accepted 23 January 2006.
Purpose
To report the intermediate-term results of the Baerveldt 250-mm2 Glaucoma Implant for treatment of adult glaucoma.
Design
Retrospective, noncomparative, interventional case series.
Participants
One hundred eight adult patients (108 eyes) with glaucoma who received a Baerveldt 250-mm2 Glaucoma Implant.
Intervention
Implantation of the Baerveldt 250-mm2 Glaucoma Implant.
Main Outcome Measures
Intraocular pressure (IOP), visual acuity, number of glaucoma medications, and surgical complications. Success was defined as IOP ≥ 6 mmHg and ≤ 21 mmHg (with or without antiglaucoma medications), without further glaucoma surgery, devastating complication, or loss of light perception attributable to drainage implantation.
Results
Mean age was 63.8±16.5 years. Mean postoperative follow-up was 22.8 months (range, 0.2–84.9; interquartile range, 3.9–36.3). Mean preoperative IOP was 36.3±13.0 mmHg, on 2.9±1.1 antiglaucoma medications. The mean postoperative IOP at final visit was 15.8±7.6 mmHg (P<0.0001, paired t test), on 0.8±1.0 antiglaucoma medications (P<0.0001, Wilcoxon test). Kaplan–Meier success rates were 0.92 (6 months, n = 81), 0.88 (12 months, n = 75), 0.84 (18 months, n = 68), and 0.79 (24 months, n = 61).
Conclusions
The Baerveldt 250-mm2 Glaucoma Implant provides good intermediate-term success for the treatment of adult refractory glaucoma.
1Department of Ophthalmology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
Correspondence and reprint requests to Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, 702 Rotary Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Manuscript no. 2005-394.
Supported in part by an unrestricted departmental grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., New York, New York.
Conflict of interest: Dr WuDunn has received speaker’s honoraria from Pfizer, which used to market the Baerveldt implant. Dr Cantor has received speaker’s honoraria from Advanced Medical Optics, which presently markets the Baerveldt implant. None of the other authors has any conflict of interest.
ABSTRACT