Epithelial barrier function of the filtering bleb conjunctiva and the cornea after trabeculectomy with mitomycin C

To evaluate epithelial barrier function of the filtering bleb conjunctiva and the cornea after trabeculectomy with adjunct, intraoperative mitomycin C, by using a newly developed slit-lamp fluorophotometer.

Thirteen patients with normal-tension glaucoma with a cystic filtering bleb who had undergone unilateral trabeculectomy with mitomycin C only once at least 1 year previously were subjected to the study. Epithelial barrier function of the bleb conjunctiva and the cornea in the operated eye was evaluated using an Anterior Fluorometer FL-500 to measure the uptake of topically applied fluorescein.

Fluorescein uptake (nanograms per milliliter, mean +/- standard error) by the bleb conjunctiva (1,857 +/- 380) was not significantly different from either the uptake by the superior bulbar conjunctiva in the operated eyes, located approximately 90 degrees C away from the filtering bleb (1,974 +/- 258), or the uptake by the conjunctiva in the intact eyes, located symmetrically against the bleb (1,913 +/- 248). The corneal uptake in the operated eye (56.1 +/- 10.2) was not significantly different from that in the intact eye (53.5 +/- 8.3).

Epithelial barrier function of the cystic filtering bleb conjunctiva and the cornea long after trabeculectomy with mitomycin C was demonstrated to be almost identical to that of the control.