Back to Journals » Clinical Ophthalmology » Volume 4

Viscogonioplasty in narrow angle glaucoma: a randomized controlled trial

Authors Varma, Adams W, Bunce C, Phelan P, Fraser S

Published 8 December 2010 Volume 2010:4 Pages 1475—1479

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S15447

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Deepali Varma1, Wendy Adams1, Catey Bunce2, Peter Phelan1, Scott Fraser1
1Sunderland Eye Infirmary, Queen Alexandra Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK; 2Moorfields Eye Hospital, City Road, London, UK

Purpose: To determine the effect of viscogonioplasty and cataract extraction on intraocular pressure in patients with narrow angle glaucoma.
Methods: This was a double-masked randomized controlled trial involving 50 eyes (25 cases and 25 controls) from 38 consecutive patients. All patients underwent phacoemulsification with or without viscogonioplasty. The main outcome measures were intraocular pressure post-treatment and number of glaucoma medications post-treatment.
Results: Cases had a greater reduction in intraocular pressure than controls, with a mean intraocular pressure (standard deviation) at 12 months of 13.7 (±2.89) mmHg compared with 16.2 (±3.55) mmHg in controls (P = 0.009). Cases had a greater reduction in mean number of antiglaucoma medications than controls at 12-month review, with 13 of 25 eyes (52%) of cases controlled without any antiglaucoma therapy versus 9 of 25 (36%) of the controls (P = 0.005).
Conclusions: Viscogonioplasty combined with cataract extraction has a significantly greater effect than cataract extraction alone on lowering intraocular pressure in patients with poorly controlled narrow angle glaucoma and should therefore be considered as a treatment option for patients with this condition.

Keywords: narrow angle, cataract extraction, viscogonioplasty, glaucoma

Creative Commons License © 2010 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.