Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
New minimally invasive surgery for dogs with glaucoma implants
By Berkowski, William et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2021·From the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences (Berkowski and Plummer), United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A new, minimally invasive procedure for dogs with encapsulated Ahmed drainage implants and elevated intraocular pressures: A case series.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 7-year-old dog with glaucoma had trouble with high eye pressure even after treatment with several medications. The veterinarian performed a new, minimally invasive surgery to improve fluid drainage from the eye using a special device. After the procedure, the dog's eye pressure dropped significantly, and two of the four treated eyes maintained normal pressure and vision for several months. However, one eye eventually developed complications and lost vision. Overall, this new surgery showed promise for dogs with similar eye issues.
People also search for: dog glaucoma treatment · high eye pressure in dogs · minimally invasive eye surgery for dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To describe a novel, minimally invasive method for re-establishing aqueous humor outflow in dogs with refractory glaucoma after fibrous encapsulation of their Ahmed drainage implants. PROCEDURE: Three dogs (4 eyes) underwent trans-capsular implantation of an Alcon EX-PRESSglaucoma filtration device under sedation (2 dogs) or general anesthesia (1 dog). After rotating the eye downwards, a 2 mm incision was made in the conjunctiva/Tenon's capsule overlying the encapsulated Ahmed plate, and later closed with absorbable suture. All eyes received subconjunctival mitomycin-C 0.02 mg. RESULTS: Mean post-operative follow-up was 341 days (range: 77-530). All eyes were hypertensive pre-operatively (mean IOP: 31.25 ± 7.14 mmHg) despite receiving topical latanoprost (4/4), timolol (4/4), carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (4/4), and demecarium bromide (2/4). Two eyes (dogs 1 and 2) were visual pre-operatively, while 2 eyes (dog 3) displayed equivocal or no vision. Post-operatively, all eyes received timolol and a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. Other anti-hypertensive medications were discontinued. Immediately following surgery, all eyes were mildly hypotensive (mean IOP: 5.75 ± 1.71 mm Hg). Two of 4 eyes were normotensive and visual until days 90 (dog 2) and 530 (dog 1) (IOP range: 10-16 mm Hg). One eye (dog 3) was normotensive for approximately 150 days, and then hypertension returned. One eye (dog 3) from the start displayed severe uveitis, hypertensive episodes, and was phthisical by the end of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Trans-capsular EX-PRESSimplantation is a minimally invasive procedure for treatment of refractory glaucoma in dogs with encapsulated Ahmed drainage implants, and further investigation is warranted.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33196139/