Vision loss & recovery after baerveldt aqueous tube shunt implantation

Esther Lee Kim, Jeffrey Tran, Marc Töteberg-Harms, Jasdeep Chahal, Douglas Rhee, Vikas Chopra, Brian Francis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study aims to determine the course of vision loss after Baerveldt aqueous tube shunt placement and identify risk factors associated with unexplained severe long-Term vision loss, or snuff-out. We retrospectively reviewed 247 eyes of 222 patients who underwent Baerveldt implantations at one of two academic institutions. Postoperative vision loss at 6 months following surgery was categorized as mild-To-moderate versus severe and long-Term versus transient. Long-Term vision loss, defined as 3 or more lines of Snellen visual acuity (VA) loss compared with preoperative VA, occurred in 63 of 247 eyes (25.5%), and 39 had mild-To-moderate and 24 had severe loss. Of these 63 eyes, 18 had no identifiable cause of vision loss. On multivariate analysis, poorer Snellen VA on postoperative day 1 (POD1) was found to be a significant risk factor for long-Term vision loss (p=0.005). In addition, the negative change in preoperative versus POD1 Snellen VA (p=0.021) and the presence of split fixation involving the inferonasal quadrant on preoperative Humphrey visual field (p=0.044) were significant risk factors for snuff-out. Transient vision loss occurred in 76 of 242 eyes (30.8%). In conclusion, vision loss is not uncommon after Baerveldt surgery, with snuff-out occurring in 2.4% of cases in this study.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4140305
JournalJournal of Ophthalmology
Volume2017
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ophthalmology

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