The Case for Glaucoma Drainage Implant Surgery in Patients With a Poor Prognosis for Standard Filtering Procedure

Glaucoma drainage implant surgery (GDIS) has substantially improvedthe treatment of patients with poor prognosis for standard filtering procedures,such as trabeculectomy. Early reports^1-4 describedthe beneficial treatment of refractory or recalcitrant glaucoma with GDIS;neovascular glaucoma⁵ and juvenile glaucoma^6-9; and glaucomaassociated with uveitis,^10,11 penetratingkeratoplasty,¹² epithelial ingrowth,¹³ aphakia or pseudophakia,^14,15 andfailed filtering surgery.¹⁵ Recently, Wilsonet al¹⁶ published the results of a clinicaltrial that demonstrated the safety and efficacy of surgery using the Ahmedimplant compared with trabeculectomy for the initial surgical management ofprimary open-angle glaucoma.