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Morphologic study of the drainage pathway using a tracer after a bypass filtering procedure in rabbit eyes
Jianqin Lei1, Naixue Sun, Xiaoge Zhao
1Eye Department of the 1st Affiliated Hospital of the Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shannxi, China. minqizhang@163.com
Background And Objective:
To study the drainage pathway using a tracer after a modified filtering surgery in rabbit eyes.
Materials And Methods:
The authors performed trabeculectomy combined with deep sclerectomy on one eye (TS group) and trabeculectomy on the other eye (T group) of 20 rabbits. Cationic ferritin was injected intracamerally just before killing the rabbits at postsurgical week 2, 4, 8, 12, or 24. The opposite side of the surgical site was used as the control. Histologic study was conducted under light microscopy.
Results:
In both groups, significantly more intrascleral and episcleral drainage vessels were observed than in the paired controls (P < .001). Intrascleral drainage canals were more often manifested in the TS group than in the T group (P < .05), especially after week 12.
Conclusion:
Intrascleral and episcleral outflow were the main drainage routes after filtering surgeries in this model. Compared with trabeculectomy, the modified surgery was superior for forming an intrascleral "bleb" and seemed to be better maintained at a later stage.
