title: Risk of postoperative visual loss in advanced glaucoma.
abstract: The incidence of sudden visual loss after an intraocular procedure in patients with glaucoma and visual field defects has been disputed for over a century. We examined the risk of sudden visual loss associated with trabeculectomy in glaucoma patients with advanced visual field defects. Fifty-four filtering operations performed on 44 patients were reviewed. All patients had visual field defects encroaching on or splitting fixation, a visual acuity of 20/100 or better, and a follow-up period of at least two months. Thirty-one of the 54 preoperative visual fields (57%) disclosed a fixation-splitting defect. Sudden visual loss was not observed in any patient during the two-month postoperative period. These findings suggest that the incidence of sudden postoperative visual loss is lower than previously reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Caplan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014130:Trabeculectomy; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014794:Visual Fields