Brit. J7. Ophthal. (1976) 6o, 124
Intraocular surgery in advanced glaucoma E. J. O'CONNELL AND A. G. KARSERAS From the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff
It has been found that 40 per cent of glaucomatous patients registered blind or partially sighted, are registrable when they first present for ophthalmic supervision. In addition, lens opacity contributes significantly to visual disability in registered glaucomatous patients (Miller and Karseras, 1974). Drainage procedures, and/or lens extraction, may therefore have to be considered in eyes in which visual reserves are grossly reduced from glaucomatous field loss. There is an established view that intraocular
surgery may result in obliteration of the central visual field subserving macular function when this is threatened by preoperative glaucomatous field loss. Lichter and Ravin (i974) have summarized the historical development of this view. The present study attempts to define the incidence of postoperative loss of central vision, consequent upon modem drainage procedures and/ or cataract extractions.
Address for reprints: A. G. Karseras, FRCS, University Department of Surgery, Welsh National School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN
who have had drainage procedures or cataract extraction was undertaken. Those patients whose preoperative
Material and method A review of the case histories of glaucomatous patients
Table I Quadrantic nasal field loss ± arcuate scotoma Postoperative status (after 6 months)
Preoperative status Patient
Visual
acuity
Intraocular pressure (mmHg)
I
6/9
30
2
6/9
32
3
6/i8
4 5 6 7
6/6
28
6/6 6/6 6/6
so
34
28
30 30 40
I0
6/68 6/9 6/9
II
6/9
12
6/9
13 14
6/6 6/24
38 40
IS
6/9
48
I6
6/6
'7
6/9
8
9
28
6o
30
20
6/I2 6/i8 6/6o
22 28 32 32 40
21
6/6
22
22
6/36
30
I8
'9
Visual field
Upper nasal quadrantanopia Lower arcuate defect Lower nasal quadrantanopia
Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Lower nasal quadrantanopia Lower nasal quadrantanopia Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper hemianopic defect (nasal and temporal) Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia with lower arcuate Upper nasal quadrantanopia
pressure (mmHg)
Macular
function
opaci.
Iridencleisis
6/9
22
No change
-
Scheie
Counting 35 fingers corrected to 6/9 (see comment) I0 6/I8
No change (see
Trabeculectomy
Lower arcuate defect Upper nasal quadrantanopia Lower nasal quadrantanopia
+
Intraocular
Corrected visual acuity
Lens Operation opacity
Scheie Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/x8
6/9 6/9 6/9
Lens
comment) No change
+
14
No change No change No change No change No change No change No change
+
8 14
No change No change
14 I4
No change No change
IS
I5 i8 21 29
13
Scheie Trabeculectomy
6/9
Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
6/6 6/36
Iridencleisis
6/9
14
No change
Iridencleisis Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
IS 20
x6
No change No change No change No change No apparent
++
Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
6/6 6/9 6/12 6/i8 < 6/6o
-
Trabeculectomy
6/6
IS
No change
++
Trabeculectomy
6/36
20
No change
'4 9
4- + ++
change
++
Intraocular surgery in advanced glaucoma 125
field loss encroached on central fixation were selected for this study. They were divided into two groups: I. 24 eyes with a residual central island, with or without a temporal island of vision 2. 22 eyes in which an arcuate scotoma not only approached to within 50 of central fixation but had extended to the peripheral field to cause a nasal quadrantic defect. An additional arcuate scotoma was occasionally present. Five patients from Group I and three from Group 2 subsequently had cataract extractions. Five eyes in three patients who presented with coincidental cataract and late glaucoma also underwent cataract extraction. An analysis of the results of these 13 cataract extractions was undertaken. Preoperative and postoperative data recorded in both groups included visual acuity, intraocular pressure, Goldmann perimetry, an assessment of lens opacity, and the drainage procedure undertaken. Postoperative data from both groups were recorded 6 months from the day of surgery. Loss of fixation after such an interval was not considered attributable to the drainage procedure. The present status of each patient was ascertained and any change of status after 6 months was recorded. The postoperative status of the cataract group (Table III) was assessed 2 months after extraction when the eyes were free from postoperative inflammation. Loss of
al review te
12
12
I2 12
Visual acuity (operated eye*) Counting fingers 6/9*
Left cataract extraction at is/I2
6/I2* 6/6
Postoperative loss wrongly attributed to loaa of visual field Right cataract extraction at I yr (vitreous loss)
6/X8* 6/X8
Bilateral lens opacities
6/6* 6/6 6/6* 6/6 6/6* 6/6 6/6 6/6* 6/9 6/24* 6/S 6/24* 6/36 6/9*
Patient died at 6/12
)/12
6/9* 6/9 6/12 6/9*
)/i2 12
6/6 6/6* 6/36* 6/4
12
6/9* 6/9
12
12 12
[2
Comments
Hand movements 6/i8* 6/9* Counting fingers 6/12* 6/6 6/12 6/36* Hand movements* No perception of light
Slight increase in cataract Development of cataract Left corrected lenticular myopia
Atypical field loss and visual acuity preoperatively Lens opacity developing
Branch vein occlusion (right) Increasing cataract Macular function could not be assessed as patient refused lens extraction
6/6 6/6*
6/12 6/60*
Preoperative lens opacity increasing
fixation directly attributable to the operation was therefore recorded but possible medium or long-term postoperative maculopathy was not excluded in some instances (Table III). The visual acuity of each patient at the final review was recorded. Preoperative field analysis in the cataract extraction group (Table III), Patients I to 8, was carried out several months, and in some instances years, before extraction, when the visual acuity and amount of lens opacity allowed accurate Goldmann perimetry. Patients 9-I3, because of gross cataract and glaucoma at presentation, did not have perimetry. Visual fields were assessed by confrontation to hand movement and perception of light. The difficulty in assessing macular function in the presence of cataract and a glaucomatous nasal quadrantic or hemianopic field defect is discussed later.
Results Table I shows that drainage operations on eyes with quadrantic field loss did not lead to any further loss of visual field involving macular fixation. In Patient 2 the visual acuity fell from 6/9 to counting fingers immediately postoperatively. This was found to be due to lenticular myopia which, when corrected, restored the visual acuity to its preoperative level. Nuclear sclerosis developed after 6 months, but cataract extraction at i yr, although complicated by vitreous loss, restored the visual acuity to 6/9 (Table III, Patient 7). The only instance in which the preoperative visual acuity of 6/I8-6/24 could not be explained by any condition other than glaucomatous field loss was that of Patient i4. The sequence of field loss in this patient was also unusual, in that temporal field loss, giving an altitudinal hemianopia, succeeded a nasal quadrantanopia instead of the more usual development of a nasal hemianopia. Table II illustrates that drainage operations on eyes with central islands of vision did not cause an obliteration of macular function from extension of visual field loss. There is a higher morbidity affecting visual acuity than in the quadrantic field loss group, and losses in visual acuity therefore occurred in nine out of 24 eyes immediately postoperatively. In Patients 5, 12, and 22 the cause was first attributed to loss of central field, but later to the presence of a correctable lenticular myopia. When cataract became apparent, subsequent extraction restored the visual acuity to the pre-drainage level (Table III: Patients 4, 2, and 5). Patient I5 was considered to belong to this group but refused operation. It was first thought that Patient i7 had lost central fixation, but the study revealed a divergent squint with a facultative suppression of the preoperative vision. Three weeks' postoperative occlusion (for shallow an-
xa6 British Journal of Ophthalmology
Table II Residual central island ± temporal island Postoperative status (after 6 months)
Preoperative statuts
Intraocular Macular pressure function (mmHg)
Visual acuitv
Intraocular pressute (mmHg)
Visual field
Lens Operation opacity
6/i8 6/36
44
Central island Central island
+ ++
.42
Central island and
-
Scheie
6/6
50
No change
4
6/6 6/12
44
temporal island Central island
-
Scheie
6/I8
I8
No change
5
6/9
29
Central island
-
Scheie
Counting fingers
25
No change (see comment)
6
6/6
6o
Central island and temporal island
-
i. Stallard 2. Scheie
Counting fingers
20
Lost central island
6/i8
42
+
Iridencleisis
6, i8
6/12
48
Central island and temporal island Central island
Iridencleisis
Intraocular surgery in advanced glaucoma E. J. O'CONNELL AND A. G. KARSERAS From the Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff
It has been found that 40 per cent of glaucomatous patients registered blind or partially sighted, are registrable when they first present for ophthalmic supervision. In addition, lens opacity contributes significantly to visual disability in registered glaucomatous patients (Miller and Karseras, 1974). Drainage procedures, and/or lens extraction, may therefore have to be considered in eyes in which visual reserves are grossly reduced from glaucomatous field loss. There is an established view that intraocular
surgery may result in obliteration of the central visual field subserving macular function when this is threatened by preoperative glaucomatous field loss. Lichter and Ravin (i974) have summarized the historical development of this view. The present study attempts to define the incidence of postoperative loss of central vision, consequent upon modem drainage procedures and/ or cataract extractions.
Address for reprints: A. G. Karseras, FRCS, University Department of Surgery, Welsh National School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XN
who have had drainage procedures or cataract extraction was undertaken. Those patients whose preoperative
Material and method A review of the case histories of glaucomatous patients
Table I Quadrantic nasal field loss ± arcuate scotoma Postoperative status (after 6 months)
Preoperative status Patient
Visual
acuity
Intraocular pressure (mmHg)
I
6/9
30
2
6/9
32
3
6/i8
4 5 6 7
6/6
28
6/6 6/6 6/6
so
34
28
30 30 40
I0
6/68 6/9 6/9
II
6/9
12
6/9
13 14
6/6 6/24
38 40
IS
6/9
48
I6
6/6
'7
6/9
8
9
28
6o
30
20
6/I2 6/i8 6/6o
22 28 32 32 40
21
6/6
22
22
6/36
30
I8
'9
Visual field
Upper nasal quadrantanopia Lower arcuate defect Lower nasal quadrantanopia
Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Lower nasal quadrantanopia Lower nasal quadrantanopia Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper hemianopic defect (nasal and temporal) Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper nasal quadrantanopia Upper and lower quadrantanopia (nasal hemianopia) Upper nasal quadrantanopia with lower arcuate Upper nasal quadrantanopia
pressure (mmHg)
Macular
function
opaci.
Iridencleisis
6/9
22
No change
-
Scheie
Counting 35 fingers corrected to 6/9 (see comment) I0 6/I8
No change (see
Trabeculectomy
Lower arcuate defect Upper nasal quadrantanopia Lower nasal quadrantanopia
+
Intraocular
Corrected visual acuity
Lens Operation opacity
Scheie Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/x8
6/9 6/9 6/9
Lens
comment) No change
+
14
No change No change No change No change No change No change No change
+
8 14
No change No change
14 I4
No change No change
IS
I5 i8 21 29
13
Scheie Trabeculectomy
6/9
Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
6/6 6/36
Iridencleisis
6/9
14
No change
Iridencleisis Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
IS 20
x6
No change No change No change No change No apparent
++
Trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy
6/6 6/9 6/12 6/i8 < 6/6o
-
Trabeculectomy
6/6
IS
No change
++
Trabeculectomy
6/36
20
No change
'4 9
4- + ++
change
++
Intraocular surgery in advanced glaucoma 125
field loss encroached on central fixation were selected for this study. They were divided into two groups: I. 24 eyes with a residual central island, with or without a temporal island of vision 2. 22 eyes in which an arcuate scotoma not only approached to within 50 of central fixation but had extended to the peripheral field to cause a nasal quadrantic defect. An additional arcuate scotoma was occasionally present. Five patients from Group I and three from Group 2 subsequently had cataract extractions. Five eyes in three patients who presented with coincidental cataract and late glaucoma also underwent cataract extraction. An analysis of the results of these 13 cataract extractions was undertaken. Preoperative and postoperative data recorded in both groups included visual acuity, intraocular pressure, Goldmann perimetry, an assessment of lens opacity, and the drainage procedure undertaken. Postoperative data from both groups were recorded 6 months from the day of surgery. Loss of fixation after such an interval was not considered attributable to the drainage procedure. The present status of each patient was ascertained and any change of status after 6 months was recorded. The postoperative status of the cataract group (Table III) was assessed 2 months after extraction when the eyes were free from postoperative inflammation. Loss of
al review te
12
12
I2 12
Visual acuity (operated eye*) Counting fingers 6/9*
Left cataract extraction at is/I2
6/I2* 6/6
Postoperative loss wrongly attributed to loaa of visual field Right cataract extraction at I yr (vitreous loss)
6/X8* 6/X8
Bilateral lens opacities
6/6* 6/6 6/6* 6/6 6/6* 6/6 6/6 6/6* 6/9 6/24* 6/S 6/24* 6/36 6/9*
Patient died at 6/12
)/12
6/9* 6/9 6/12 6/9*
)/i2 12
6/6 6/6* 6/36* 6/4
12
6/9* 6/9
12
12 12
[2
Comments
Hand movements 6/i8* 6/9* Counting fingers 6/12* 6/6 6/12 6/36* Hand movements* No perception of light
Slight increase in cataract Development of cataract Left corrected lenticular myopia
Atypical field loss and visual acuity preoperatively Lens opacity developing
Branch vein occlusion (right) Increasing cataract Macular function could not be assessed as patient refused lens extraction
6/6 6/6*
6/12 6/60*
Preoperative lens opacity increasing
fixation directly attributable to the operation was therefore recorded but possible medium or long-term postoperative maculopathy was not excluded in some instances (Table III). The visual acuity of each patient at the final review was recorded. Preoperative field analysis in the cataract extraction group (Table III), Patients I to 8, was carried out several months, and in some instances years, before extraction, when the visual acuity and amount of lens opacity allowed accurate Goldmann perimetry. Patients 9-I3, because of gross cataract and glaucoma at presentation, did not have perimetry. Visual fields were assessed by confrontation to hand movement and perception of light. The difficulty in assessing macular function in the presence of cataract and a glaucomatous nasal quadrantic or hemianopic field defect is discussed later.
Results Table I shows that drainage operations on eyes with quadrantic field loss did not lead to any further loss of visual field involving macular fixation. In Patient 2 the visual acuity fell from 6/9 to counting fingers immediately postoperatively. This was found to be due to lenticular myopia which, when corrected, restored the visual acuity to its preoperative level. Nuclear sclerosis developed after 6 months, but cataract extraction at i yr, although complicated by vitreous loss, restored the visual acuity to 6/9 (Table III, Patient 7). The only instance in which the preoperative visual acuity of 6/I8-6/24 could not be explained by any condition other than glaucomatous field loss was that of Patient i4. The sequence of field loss in this patient was also unusual, in that temporal field loss, giving an altitudinal hemianopia, succeeded a nasal quadrantanopia instead of the more usual development of a nasal hemianopia. Table II illustrates that drainage operations on eyes with central islands of vision did not cause an obliteration of macular function from extension of visual field loss. There is a higher morbidity affecting visual acuity than in the quadrantic field loss group, and losses in visual acuity therefore occurred in nine out of 24 eyes immediately postoperatively. In Patients 5, 12, and 22 the cause was first attributed to loss of central field, but later to the presence of a correctable lenticular myopia. When cataract became apparent, subsequent extraction restored the visual acuity to the pre-drainage level (Table III: Patients 4, 2, and 5). Patient I5 was considered to belong to this group but refused operation. It was first thought that Patient i7 had lost central fixation, but the study revealed a divergent squint with a facultative suppression of the preoperative vision. Three weeks' postoperative occlusion (for shallow an-
xa6 British Journal of Ophthalmology
Table II Residual central island ± temporal island Postoperative status (after 6 months)
Preoperative statuts
Intraocular Macular pressure function (mmHg)
Visual acuitv
Intraocular pressute (mmHg)
Visual field
Lens Operation opacity
6/i8 6/36
44
Central island Central island
+ ++
.42
Central island and
-
Scheie
6/6
50
No change
4
6/6 6/12
44
temporal island Central island
-
Scheie
6/I8
I8
No change
5
6/9
29
Central island
-
Scheie
Counting fingers
25
No change (see comment)
6
6/6
6o
Central island and temporal island
-
i. Stallard 2. Scheie
Counting fingers
20
Lost central island
6/i8
42
+
Iridencleisis
6, i8
6/12
48
Central island and temporal island Central island
Iridencleisis
