Optical Coherence Tomography in the Evalution of Fitering Bleb after Trabeculectomy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the usefulness of optical coherence tomography in the evaluation of the filtering bleb after trabeculectomy. METHODS: In three eyes of three patients, trabeculectomy was perfomed with the use of Mitomycin C (0.04%). In two eyes, encapsulated filtering bleb was suspected with elevated IOP. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) was performed in three eyes, and the features of the suspected encapsulated bleb and the normal functioning bleb were compared. RESULTS: The encapsulated filtering bleb was characterized by the formation of fluid filled space, which shows very low and homogenous reflectivity, surrounded by a thick wall with high reflectivity in both UBM and OCT. CONCLUSIONS: As the OCT is non-invasive and can obtain image without contact, it is useful to evaluate the filtering bleb at immediate post-operative time.