Anterior chamber after intrascleral filtering surgery.

Intrascleral filtering surgery was performed in 58 eyes and the anterior chamber (AC) depth was estimated postoperatively by recording the equivalent number of corneal thicknesses (CT) of central AC depth (lens-cornea distance). Lens-cornea touch occurred in 3 of 28 eyes with chronic simple glaucoma and was highly correlated with cataract formation. Lens-cornea touch did not develop in any of 11 eyes with other types of phakic glaucoma. Lens-cornea touch did not occur in any eye if the postoperative AC depth was ever 2 CT or greater and all three instances of lens-cornea touch occurred on or by the fifth postoperative day. Nineteen aphakic eyes were operated and all had normal AC depth from the first postoperative day. The data do not support the common belief that filtering procedures done beneath a scleral flap result in faster AC depth reformation than filtering procedures not done beneath a scleral flap.