Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV) implantation with intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) pretreatment in the treatment of neovascular glaucoma (NVG).
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed according to the Cochrane collaboration methodology to identify controlled clinical trials comparing AGV implantation with (IVB group) or without IVB (control group) pretreatment for NVG. The main outcome measures were the weighted mean differences (WMDs) for intraocular pressure reduction, a reduction in glaucoma medications, odds ratio (OR) for complete success rates, and qualified success rates. Tolerability estimates were measured by OR for adverse events.
Results: The WMD of the intraocular pressure reduction when comparing the IVB group with the control group was 3.30 (-1.21 to 7.80). The IVB group was associated with numerically greater but nonsignificant IOP lowering efficacy compared with the control group (P=0.152). Both groups were comparable in the reduction of glaucoma medication, with a WMD of 0.28 (-0.03 to 0.59) at the follow-up endpoint (P=0.077). The IVB group was associated with significant greater complete success rates compared with the control group, with a pooled OR of 3.18 (1.41 to 7.19). However, it did not show a significant difference for the qualified success rate between them, with a pooled OR of 2.00 (0.95 to 4.21). The IVB group was associated with a significantly lower frequency of hyphema than the control group, with a pooled OR of 0.15 (0.07 to 0.32).
Conclusion: The use of IVB pretreatment for NVG is a safe and effective additional step during AGV implantation surgery.