Purpose: To examine background factors in cases of implant exposure following Baerveldt tube shunt surgery (hereinafter referred to as Baerveldt surgery) for glaucoma.
Patients and methods: Subjects included 75 eyes of consecutive 68 cases who underwent Bearveldt surgery at the Kumamoto University Hospital from 2012 to 2017. Amongst all cases, those of implant exposure were identified, and background to them were retrospectively examined. Cases were categorized into groups, and a comparative analysis was performed between them. One eye (the preceding eye) for each case was analyzed. A Wilcoxon rank sum test was performed for quantitative variables; and a Fisher's exact test was performed for qualitative variables. The level of significance was set at p<0.05.
Results: Four eyes of 4 cases (5.3%) presented with an implant exposure. In all the 4 cases, BG102-350 was implanted into the upper-nasal pars plana for neovascular glaucoma accompanying proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Of these cases, the dislocation of the implant plate with tube exposure was observed in one case, leading to implant extraction. The other three cases underwent a graft of preserved sclera, in which the extraction of the implant was not required. Compared to the non-exposure group, the following characteristics were observed in the exposure group: higher proportions of neovascular glaucoma and the use of BG102-350; younger age; higher preoperative intraocular pressure; and shorter time period between Baerveldt surgery and the last filtration surgery prior to the Baerveldt surgery.
Conclusion: There may be a tendency for cases of implant exposure following Baerveldt surgery to have common background factors to a certain extent.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 123: 824-828, 2019.