Bovine pericardium as a patch graft in glaucoma drainage implant surgery: a case series.

Purpose: To evaluate the short-term safety and efficacy of bovine pericardium as a patch graft in glaucoma drainage implant surgery.

Methods: We included 10 eyes from 10 patients with glaucoma. All patients underwent glaucoma drainage implant surgery using a bovine pericardial patch graft. The pericardial membrane was trimmed to 5 × 7 mm and used to cover the tube's scleral track. Intraocular pressure, best-corrected visual acuity, and the number of antiglaucoma medications were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively on Days 1, 7, 14, 28, 45, 60, 75, and 90. Conjunctival hyperemia and intraocular inflammation were clinically graded postoperatively. Symptoms, including foreign body sensation, itching, and tearing, as well as postoperative complications, were recorded. Surgical failure was defined as tube exposure resulting from erosion of the overlying patch graft and conjunctiva.

Results: The mean patient age was 63.4±15.6 years (range, 45-87 years). The most common postoperative symptom was foreign body sensation. During follow-up, three eyes developed asymptomatic thinning of the pericardial graft overlying the tube; in one of these eyes, the thinning progressed to tube exposure (10.0%; 95% CI, 0.3-44.5). No cases of endophthalmitis were observed.

Conclusions: In this short-term follow-up study, bovine pericardium may be a viable alternative for coverage of glaucoma drainage implants. Larger studies with longer follow-up periods are warranted to confirm these findings.