Effects of postoperative mitomycin C on glaucoma filtration surgery in rabbits treated preoperatively with antiglaucoma medications.

In a rabbit model, we evaluated the effects of topically applied postoperative mitomycin C (MMC) on the success rate of glaucoma filtration surgery in animals treated preoperatively with pilocarpine hydrochloride 4% and levobunolol hydrochloride (Betagan) for 16 weeks. Full-thickness filtration surgery was performed with a single 5-minute intraoperative exposure to a sponge soaked with 0.4 mg/mL MMC of one eye in nine rabbits in one group (group A) and to both eyes in 13 rabbits in a second group (group B). In addition, one eye of each rabbit in group B received a daily drop of 0.4 mg/mL MMC for 13 days after the operation. All of the eyes were then followed for 80 days. The intraoperatively applied MMC enhanced the success rate of the filtration surgery in the group A eyes. However, the eyes that also received postoperative drops of MMC (group B) had longer periods of reduced intraocular pressure (IOP) (P [chi-squared = 5.94] < .025), fewer bleb failures (P [chi-squared = 8.09] < .005), and more complications than the eyes that received only intraoperative MMC.