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PURPOSE: To estimate the risk of blindness following bleb-related infection after trabeculectomy with mitomycin C in open angle glaucoma, utilizing data obtained from two prospective multicenter studies. METHODS: The incidence of bleb-related infection in open angle glaucoma after the first or second glaucoma surgery was calculated using a Kaplan-Meier analysis and data from the Collaborative Bleb-related Infection Incidence and Treatment Study (CBIITS). The rate of blindness following bleb-related infection was calculated using data from the Japan Glaucoma Society Survey of Bleb-related Infection (JGSSBI). Finally, the rate of blindness following bleb-related infection after filtering surgery was estimated based on the above two data sets. Blindness was defined as an eye with a visual acuity of 0.04 or less. RESULTS: The incidences of development of bleb-related infection at 5 years were 2.6 ± 0.7 % (calculated cumulative incidence ± standard error) for all infections and 0.9 ± 0.4 % for endophthalmitis in all cases in the CBIITS data. The rates of blindness in the JGSSBI data were 14 % for the total cases with bleb-related infection and 30 % for the endophthalmitis subgroup. The rate of blindness developing within 5 years following trabeculectomy was estimated to be approximately 0.24-0.36 %. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of blindness following bleb-related infection within 5 years after trabeculectomy is considerable and thus careful consideration must be given to the indication for trabeculectomy and the selection of surgical techniques.
Department of Ophthalmology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu-shi, 501-1194, Japan.
Full article12.8.11 Complications, endophthalmitis (Part of: 12 Surgical treatment > 12.8 Filtering surgery)
1.5 Glaucomas as cause of blindness (Part of: 1 General aspects)