Amniotic membrane transplantation for repair of late bleb leaking

Kim, Dae Wook; Park, Woo Chan; Rho, Sae Heun

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation which has anti-inflammatory functions and facilitates epithelialization on leaking blebs.
METHODS
Patients who had bleb leakage after trabeculectomy were included, 2 eyes of 2 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and 1 eye of 1 pa-tient with primary angle-closure glaucoma. After amniotic membrane was transplanted in the conjunctiva and cornea at the center of bleb leakage, the state of bleb leakage was observed retrospectively.
RESULTS
In the first patient, there was no bleb leakage at postoperative day 1 and showed epithelialization at postoperative day 10. At two days after surgery, bleb leakage was controlled in the second patient and it showed epithelialization at four days after surgery. From the first day after surgery, there was no bleb leakage in the third patient. The patients were put on T-lens because of foreign body sensation, which was improved two days after surgery, and were epithelialized in 1 week. Out of all three eyes, there was no avascular bleb with leakage.
CONCLUSION
Amniotic membrane can be a useful therapy of bleb leakage , which may cause the complications after trabeculectomy in glaucoma patients.