Treatment of hypotony maculopathy after trabeculectomy

To determine if resuturing of the scleral flap to increase IOP in the post-trabeculectomy eye is an effective treatment of hypotony maculopathy.

The medical records of nine consecutive patients who developed visual acuity loss after trabeculectomy related to hypotony maculopathy were reviewed to determine factors that contribute to successful restoration of visual acuity. The average age of the patients was 50 years and average refractive error was -4.25 diopters (D). Mean Snellen visual acuity dropped from 20/25 to 20/200 after the onset of hypotony.

Six of nine eyes recovered visual acuity to within one line of initial level after treatment of the hypotony. Four of these six eyes underwent resuturing of the scleral flap to reverse the excess filtration within 6 months of the onset of hypotony maculopathy. Five of these six patients had final vision of 20/30 or better. The mean phakic preoperative refractive error in these six eyes was -2.25 D, compared with a mean refractive error of -8.50 D in the three eyes with persistent visual loss (P = 0.002). After reversal of the hypotony, the average peak intraocular pressure in the six eyes with visual recovery was 33 mm Hg, compared with an average peak IOP of 7 mm Hg in the three eyes with persistent visual loss. (P = 0.015)

Although reversal of the hypotony maculopathy in six eyes was associated with a few weeks of higher than normal IOP, the final IOP was acceptably low. Five of six filtering blebs remained functional with a mean follow-up of 3 years. The final average IOP in the six eyes that were successfully treated was 12.7 mm Hg. In this series of patients, visual acuity was restored to eyes with hypotony maculopathy by increasing the IOP to higher than normal levels.