Scoralick, Ana Luiza Bassoli

Précis: Patients with clinically uncontrolled open angle glaucoma submitted to isolated gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy or combined with phacoemulsification not only achieved low mean IOPs, but also demonstrated stable IOP patterns during a 24-month follow-up. Purpose: To assess the impact of gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy (GATT) on long-term intraocular pressure (IOP) variation. Patients and Methods: An unicentric retrospective study including 169 consecutive patients who had undergone standalone GATT or combined with phacoemulsification (PHACOGATT) due to clinically uncontrolled open angle glaucoma, with at least 12 months of follow-up was conducted. Long-term mean IOP, long-term IOP peak, long-term IOP fluctuation, coefficient of variation, mean-positive IOP variation, sustained clinically significant positive IOP variation, and number of follow-up visits with IOP ≥15 mm Hg were investigated. Results: One hundred sixty-nine eyes from 169 patients were included (GATT group=101 patients; PHACOGATT group=68 patients). Mean long term IOP (12.0±1.8 vs. 11.2±2.0 mm Hg), mean long-term IOP peak (12.9±2.6 vs. 11.8±3.5 mm Hg), and mean coefficient of variation (0.07±0.08 vs. 0.05±0.09) were lower in the PHACOGATT group, while mean IOP fluctuation (1.0±3.7 vs. 1.2±1.8 mm Hg) was lower in the GATT group. In addition, the overall mean-positive IOP variation was 0.79±1.64 mm Hg. Finally, only 6.5% of the patients presented sustained clinically significant positive IOP variation and IOP was ≥15 mm Hg in 5.9% of the follow-up visits. Conclusions: Patients with clinically uncontrolled open angle glaucoma submitted to GATT or PHACOGATT achieved low mean IOPs and demonstrated stable IOP patterns. Our results provide additional evidence supporting GATT and PHACOGATT as viable options for the treatment of medically uncontrolled glaucoma patients requiring low and stable IOPs.

Purpose: To compare provocative test-based and long-term intraocular pressure variation parameters in patients with stable open-angle glaucoma. Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out in which stable open-angle glaucoma patients (⩾3 years of follow-up without any changes on current medical regimen) were consecutively enrolled. All patients were submitted to a water-drinking test. Long-term intraocular pressure parameters were obtained from isolated intraocular pressure measurements from each visit (⩾5 visits). We investigated the correlation and agreement between the following water-drinking test and long-term intraocular pressure parameters: mean, peak, and fluctuation. In addition, the percentage of eyes with significant intraocular pressure peaks during the water-drinking test (defined as a difference ⩾25% between water-drinking test intraocular pressure peak and mean long-term intraocular pressure) was assessed. Results: Sixty-three eyes from 63 open-angle glaucoma patients (mean age, 60.7 ± 11.8 years) were included. Mean and water-drinking test intraocular pressure peak correlated significantly with mean ( r = 0.67) and maximum long-term intraocular pressure ( r = 0.52), respectively ( p < 0.01). The correlation between water-drinking test intraocular pressure fluctuation and long-term intraocular pressure fluctuation was not significant ( p = 0.45). Limits of agreement from Bland–Altman plots exceeded the maximum allowed difference between methods (3 mm Hg) for all the intraocular pressure parameters analyzed, suggesting poor agreement between water-drinking test–derived and long-term intraocular pressure values. Overall, significant water-drinking test intraocular pressure peaks were observed in 39.7% of these eyes with stable open-angle glaucoma. Conclusion: Although some water-drinking test–based and long-term intraocular pressure parameters correlate significantly, water-drinking test results may not reflect the long-term intraocular pressure profile of stable open-angle glaucoma patients, as their agreement is poor. Many of these patients may experience significant water-drinking test intraocular pressure peaks, despite long-standing stable disease and unchanged medical regimen.