Purpose: To determine the long-term outcomes of patients with traumatic gla
ucoma treated with Molteno implants at Dunedin Hospital, New Zealand.
Design: Prospective, noncomparative, interventional case series.
Participants: Thirty-eight patients with traumatic glaucoma and with a mean
follow-up of 10.9 years.
Intervention: Insertion of Molteno implant.
Main Outcome Measures. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and intraocular pressure-
related surgical interventions after Molteno implant insertion.
Results: Insertion of a Molteno implant controlled the IOP at 21 mmHg or le
ss (with or without hypotensive medication) with a probability of 0.80 (95%
confidence interval [CI], 0.66, 0.93) at 5 years and 0.72 (95% Cl, 0.56, 0
.88) at 10 years. At final follow-up, intraocular pressure was controlled s
olely with the implant in 26 cases and controlled with the addition of hypo
tensive medication in three cases, whereas nine eyes were failures. Eleven
patients (29%) underwent intervention for implant repositioning or tube ori
fice blockage. Thirty-four double- and six single-plate Molteno implants we
re inserted. Two patients had implants replaced. Seventy-nine percent becam
e aphakic or pseudophakic from their trauma before or at the time of Molten
o, implant insertion. There were no exclusions resulting from extensive ocu
lar damage.
Conclusions: Insertion of Molteno implants in traumatic glaucoma produced i
ntraocular pressure control at long-term follow-up in 76% of cases. Ophthal
mology 2001;108:1796-1800 (C) 2001 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology
.