Short-Term Results of Canaloplasty Surgery for Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in Japanese Patients

Purpose: To report surgical results of canaloplasty surgery for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in Japanese patients. Methods: Eleven eyes of 9 POAG patients underwent canaloplasty surgery at Toyama University Hospital. Three eyes of 3 patients underwent canaloplasty alone and 8 eyes of 6 patients underwent canaloplasty combined with cataract surgery. Canaloplasty was performed with a 10-0 polypropylene tensioning suture and an iTrack (TM) 250A microcatheter. All patients were followed up for 12 months. Changes in intraocular pressure (IOP) and postoperative complications were examined. Results: Mean preoperative IOP was 23.4 +/- 5.5 mm Hg. Mean number of antiglaucoma drops was 2.8 +/- 0.6 before canaloplasty and decreased to 1.2 +/- 0.8 at 12 months after canaloplasty (p < 0.01). Mean IOP decreased postoperatively, being 13.7 +/- 2.8 mm Hg at 1 month, 12.8 +/- 3.5 mm Hg at 3 months, 14.0 +/- 4.4 mm Hg at 6 months, and 15.0 +/- 4.1 mm Hg at 12 months. The most frequent postoperative complication was mild hyphema (45.5%), which disappeared within 14 days after surgery. Conclusions: Canaloplasty may be an alternative surgery for POAG patients to reduce IOP to a value of approximately 15 mm Hg.