Trabeculectomy in Low-tension Glaucoma

Ahn, Myung Douk

Abstract

I analyzed the changes of visual function of 49 eyes of 38 patients with low-tension glaucoma (LTG) who underwent trabeculectomy and had been followed for at least 3 years at Wills Eye Hopsital. The results were as follows: 1. Average IOP was 18.1 mmHg preoperatively and decreased by 5.0, 4.9 and 4.4 mmHg respectively at 1, 3 and 5 years postoperatively. 2. Postoperative visual acuity decreased in 9 eyes (23%) and 7 eyes (35%) respectively at 3 and 5 years. 3. Postoperative visual field improved in 18 eyes (42%) and 5 eyes (22%) respectively at 1 and 5 years. However it progressed in 9 eyes (23%) and 9 eyes (39%) respectively at 3 and 5 years. 4. In terms of postoperative complications, choroidal detachment developed in 3 cases (6%), cataract requiring extraction in 11 cases and there were no cases requiring reoperation during 3 years after operation. From these results, whereas lOP decreased continually by 25% for 5 years, visual field progressed in 39% of cases at 5 years. However in light of low rate of both complication and reoperation together with high visual field improvement, if LTG persists despite medication, trabeculectomy is recommended to stop the progression of visual field.