The first report on intermediate-term outcome of Ex-PRESS(®) glaucoma filtration device implanted under scleral flap in Japanese patients

PURPOSE: This paper compares the outcomes of the Ex-PRESS(®) Glaucoma Filtration Device (Alcon, Fort Worth, TX) implant observed in Japanese patients for 1 year with those of patients undergoing trabeculectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The subjects comprised ten eyes of ten cases with open-angle glaucoma for which filtration surgery using Ex-PRESS (P-50) was performed by one operator from February 2008 and observed for at least 1 year (Ex-PRESS Group), and eleven eyes of eleven cases for which trabeculectomy was performed by the same operator (TE Group). For both groups, mitomycin C was used and a scleral flap was created after a fornix-based incision of the conjunctiva. RESULTS: Hypotony and choroidal detachment were observed as early postoperative complications during a 1-week period in one-third of the cases in the TE Group, and failing vision in about 45%, while these were seen in fewer cases in the Ex-PRESS Group. No significant difference in intraocular pressure (IOP) was observed during the period, but IOP variations on the day following the surgery were obviously narrower in the Ex-PRESS Group than in the TE Group. Visual acuity was significantly poorer from 1 week to 3 months in the TE Group while it was stable in the Ex-PRESS Group. The Ex-PRESS Group had fewer cases of laser suture lysis and fewer administrations of glaucoma eyedrop, and no cases of progression in the stage of visual field defect. CONCLUSION: Filtration surgery using the Ex-PRESS is unlikely to cause early complications in Japanese patients. Similarly to the trabeculectomy, the intermediate-term control of IOP showed favorable results.