Abstract / Summary
Purpose To describe a novel use of lyophilized amniotic membranes in the management of recurrent conjunctival erosions. Patients and methods This study was a multi-center retrospective case-series study including thirteen patients who were surgically treated for a leaking filtration bleb with an amniotic membrane patch following various types of glaucoma surgery. Baseline was defined as the time of the first amniotic membrane surgery. All patients had a minimum follow-up of 3 months after the procedure. The primary endpoint assessed was the surgical success rate, defined as a watertight bleb with no leak recurrence. Results Thirteen patients were included between April 2019 and March 2023. The mean number of prior filtering procedures was 1.15. All patients except one presented a leaking bleb, for which an amniotic membrane overlay was performed; one patient had an amniotic membrane patch graft concurrently with his glaucoma shunt surgery. Primary amniotic membrane patching was performed with a lyophilized amniotic membrane in 12 patients. The primary surgery was successful at stopping bleb leakage in 61.5% of cases. A secondary amniotic membrane patch was necessary in 5 cases, all of which had a functional and watertight bleb at last follow-up. One patient presented exogenous endophthalmitis due to a bleb leak before initial amniotic membrane patching. Conclusion This case series describes lyophilized amniotic membrane use in the management of bleb leak as a valid patching option in several types of filtration surgery.