Analysis of the Systemic Exposure of Mitomycin C Used in Glaucoma Filtering Surgery Among Women in the Reproductive...

Systemic absorbtion of topically applied mitomycin C (MMC) during trabeculectomy needs to be evaluated to look for any systemic toxicity, which might be a major concern in certain conditions like pregnancy.

After obtaining ethical committee clearance, female patients in the reproductive age group undergoing trabeculectomy with MMC were included. Pregnant/lactating patients, patients with any systemic illness were excluded. During trabeculectomy, 0.02% MMC was applied subconjunctivally for 2 min and then washed. Blood samples were withdrawn at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hrs after the surgery and analyzed of MMC levels using Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS).

The mean age of the participants was 29 ± 12 years. MMC was not detected in any of the plasma samples analyzed as it was less than the detection limit (<1.56 ng/mL) of the employed LC-MS/MS assay.

It can be deduced that the systemic absorption of MMC is negligible or the plasma concentration is less than 1.56 ng/ml (1000 times less than the concentration where systemic toxicity was not observed).