Research progress of Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation in the treatment of neovascular glaucoma

Neovascular glaucoma (NVG) is a kind of devastating secondary glaucoma characterized by neovascularization in iris and anterior chamber angle, which often results in loss of vision.The current standard of treatment includes retinal ablation and control of enhanced intraocular pressure with drugs and surgical therapy.There are a lot of surgical therapies of NVG, while the prognosis of these therapies are not satisfactory as most of them would be effected by different kinds of complications.Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation (AGVI) is one of the main treatments means being widely used with less postoperative complications, such as shallow anterior chamber, low intraocular pressure.Failure of AGVI mainly caused by fiber hyperplasia and neovascularization.AGVI combined with anti-fibrosis therapy and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy might be a promising method to promote surgical outcomes.It has been shown that AGVI combined with anti-VEGF drugs can improve the success rate of surgery.Besides, some researchers found that AGVI with intraoperative application of anti-fibrosis drugs, such as mitomycin C, sustained-release anti-fibrosis drugs can improve the prognosis of surgery in neovascular glaucoma patients.The progress of research on anti-fibrosis and anti-VEGF treatment combined with Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation was discussed in this review.

Neovascular glaucoma; Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Intravitreal injection; Bevacizumab