Objective  To analyze the characteristics of glaucoma in patients underwent Moscow Eye Microsurgery Complex (MICOF) keratoprosthesis in China.
Methods  Analysis and retrospective review of consecutive clinical case series. A total of 90 patients had a MICOF keratoprosthesis implantation between 2000 and 2010 at our hospital. Fifteen eyes of 15 patients were included in this research. Twelve of these 15 eyes were identified glaucoma before MICOF keratoprosthesis surgery, and 3 eyes developed glaucoma afterward. Intraocular pressure (IOP), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and treatment of glaucoma were recorded at one and three months after the second stage of MICOF keratoprosthesis implantation, and thereafter every six months.
Results  MICOF keratoprosthesis improved vision dramatically in the majority of patients in our study. The mean follow-up after MICOF keratoprosthesis implantation was 29.9 months (range, 7-72 months). The most common preoperative corneal diagnosis was alkali burn (8 eyes, 53.3%). Five of these 15 patients received cyclocryotherapy after the surgery to control elevated IOP. BCVA decreased from 20/25 to 20/100, 20/80 to light perception, 20/60 to 20/200, 20/100 to hand movement, and 20/50 to counting fingers, respectively.
Conclusions  IOP was the main method used to confirm the diagnosis of glaucoma in patients with MICOF keratoprosthesis. Structural variations (e.g., cup-disc ratio and visual field) were less useful because of the rather small diameter of the optical cylinder. Treatment strategies were limited to medication and cyclocryotherapy, although the application of cyclocryotherapy maybe a poor prognostic indicator of final BCVA.