Clinical outcomes of the PAUL® glaucoma implant: One‐year results

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundTo report one‐year outcomes from a single‐centre cohort undergoing PAUL® Glaucoma Implant (PGI) surgery.MethodsRetrospective review of patients undergoing PGI surgery at the University Eye Hospital Bonn, Germany, from April 2021 to September 2021.ResultsForty‐five eyes of 41 patients were included. Qualified and complete success rates (95% CI) were 95.6% (88.9%–100%) and 73.3% (60%–86.7%) for Criterion A (IOP ≤ 21 mmHg), 84.4% (73.3%–93.3%) and 74.4% (51.1%–80.0%) for Criterion B (IOP ≤ 18 mmHg), 62.2% (48.9%–75.6%) and 46.7% (31.2%–62.2%) for Criterion C (IOP ≤ 15 mmHg) and 26.7% (13.3%–40.0%) and 22.2% (11.1%–33.3%) for Criterion D (IOP ≤ 12 mmHg), respectively. Mean IOP decreased from 26.1 mmHg (7–48 mmHg) to 12.0 mmHg (3–24 mmHg) (reduction of 48.83%) after 12 months with a reduction of IOP‐lowering agents from 0.5 (0–3). One eye (2.2%) needed an injection of viscoelastic due to significant hypotony with AC shallowing, and four eyes (8.9%) developed choroidal detachments due to hypotony which resolved without further interventions after 6 weeks. Three patients (6.7%) developed tube exposure which required conjunctival revision with an additional pericardial patch graft. An intraluminal prolene stent was removed in 19 eyes (42.2%) after a mean time period of 8.4 months (2–12 m). Mean IOP before the removal was 21.9 mmHg (12–38 mmHg) and decreased to 11.3 mmHg (6–16 mmHg).ConclusionsPGI surgery is an effective procedure for reducing IOP and pressure‐lowering therapy. An intraluminal prolene stent impedes hypotony in the early postoperative phase and enables further IOP lowering without additional interventions during the postoperative course.