Management of overfiltering and leaking blebs with autologous blood injection
M. M. Leen, M. R. Moster, L. J. Katz, A. K. Terebuh, C. M. Schmidt and G. L. Spaeth
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA.
We describe our experience with intrableb autologous blood injection to
manage over-filtering and leaking blebs. Autologous blood was injected into
12 thin cystic filtration blebs of 12 eyes. Indications for blood injection
included symptomatic hypotony in five eyes, hypotony associated with bleb
leakage in five eyes, and bleb leakage without hypotony in two eyes. Seven
eyes (58.3%) were classified as successes and five eyes (41.7%) were
classified as failures. The mean (+/- SD) follow-up was 6.8 +/- 2.6 months.
Among the eyes classified as successes, a significant increase was noted in
intraocular pressure and visual acuity by a mean (+/- SD) of 5.1 +/- 2.9 mm
Hg and 5.3 +/- 2.1 lines, respectively. Bleb leakage resolved in four of
seven eyes. The most common complication was hyphema formation. Injection
of autologous blood into a filtration bleb is an alternative procedure for
management of excessive filtration or bleb leakage in selected patients.
