Supra-Tenon Capsule Implantation of the Ahmed Glaucoma Valve in Refractory Pediatric Glaucoma

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of supraTenon capsule implantation of an Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) as a measure to decrease the fibrotic potential of the Tenon capsule on bleb formation and its subsequent effect on intraocular pressure (IOP) control in children with refractory glaucoma. Setting: Mansoura Ophthalmic Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt. Design: A prospective interventional study. Patients and Methods: Twenty-two eyes of 12 children with refractory glaucoma underwent supraTenon capsule implantation of AGV. Ophthalmic examinations under general anesthesia including measurement of the corneal diameter and the IOP with Perkin's tonometer were performed preoperatively, on the first postoperative day, the first postoperative week, weekly for the first month, 2-weekly for the following 3 months, and monthly for at least 18 months. Postoperative complications and the number of glaucoma medications used preoperatively and postoperatively were recorded. The paired Student t test was used to compare preoperative and postoperative data. Results: There were 12 eyes (54.6%) with refractory congenital glaucoma, 7 eyes (31.8%) with refractory pseudophakic glaucoma, and 3 eyes (13.6%) with refractory aphakic glaucoma. Patients included 10 male (83.3%) and 2 female (16.7%) children with a mean age of 16.3+/-9.7 months. The mean followup duration was 24.1+/-4.3 months. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean preoperative IOP (30.7+/-2.88mm Hg) and the mean postoperative IOP (16.1+/-3.60mm Hg) (t=16.22 and P=0.000, with a mean decrease in the IOP by 47.6%). The difference between the mean number of antiglaucoma medications before surgery (1.86+/-0.4) and after surgery (1.0+/-0.9) was also statistically significant (t=4.31 and P=0.000).Total success was achieved in 18 eyes (81.9%). Postoperative complications included tube exposure and slippage (10%), hypotony (10%), and hyphema (5%). Conclusions: SupraTenon capsule implantation of the AGV was successful in controlling the IOP with few postoperative complications in the management of children with refractory glaucoma.