Vienna Preserflo Cohort Study

Overview

The Vienna Preserflo Microshunt Cohort Study is an observational study with a prospective postoperative examination in all glaucoma patients who had received a Preserflo Microshunt (PMS) as standalone procedure or in combination with cataract extraction in the time period between January and November 2019 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Vienna. It is estimated that approximately 70 patients will be included of this cohort. The cohort will be invited for a prospective postoperative examination after 12 (±5) months of follow up. This examination shall comprise best corrected visual acuity, visual field test, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, slit lamp examination, fundus examination (optic disc and retina), gonioscopic assessment of PMS position, anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) (shunt position, anterior chamber angle assessment, limbus shape analysis), corneal pachymetry, specular microscopy of corneal endothelial cells. Additionally, retrospective information concerning IOP, medication and visual fields of all patients will be collected from the Department of Ophthalmology as well as from the referring ophthalmologists where possible. Additionally, we will perform a comparison between two groups to compare differences in outcome measures.

During the inclusion period two slightly different surgical approaches have been used. At the beginning of the surgery, the conjunctiva is opened and the Tenon capsule is getting dissected from the sclera. In the first group of patients (group 1) we made a fornix based conjunctival opening, prepared a 1mm wide and long scleral pocket in 3mm distance from limbus and placed the PMS in the anterior chamber via a 25G needle track. In the second group (group 2) the conjunctival opening was 3.5 mm from the limbus, the scleral pocket was prepared at 3.5 mm distance from the limbus and a 27G needle was used. The outcomes of these two groups will be compared.

Conditions