Trabeculectomy with and without mitomycin-C in a black African population

To evaluate the beneficial effects of intraoperative application of mitomycin-C during trabeculectomy in a black African population in Congo-Kinshasa.

A prospective randomized study in 22 eyes (11 patients) with open-angle glaucoma. All patients underwent trabeculectomy with application of mitomycin-C (0.4 mg/ml for 2.5 min) under the scleral flap in the right eye and trabeculectomy alone in the left eye. Assessment of the clinical outcome included intraocular pressure, visual acuity, visual field and complications. The follow-up was 20 months. Success of the filtering surgery was defined as a final IOP of 21 mmHg or lower without antiglaucoma medications and no further glaucoma surgery necessary.

The success rate of trabeculectomy was 81.8% in eyes treated with mitomycin-C compared with 63.6% in eyes not receiving this drug. Rates of intraocular pressure reduction were 57.9% and 42.9% respectively. Complications occured in 36.3% of the eyes managed with mitomycin-C against 9% in the control eyes.

Mitomycin-C, as adjunctive treatment during trabeculectomy in black Africans, offers great benefit in lowering IOP, but with a substantial high risk of complications. These data need to be confirmed by further studies in this population.