Sulphur hexafluoride in the treatment of flat anterior chamber following trabeculectomy.

The efficacy and side effects of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) in the reformation of the flat anterior chamber (AC) after standard trabeculectomies were studied. Ten patients with lenticulocorneal touch following trabeculectomy were enrolled. All had water-tight conjunctival wounds with overflowing fistulas. In 5, one to four surgical attempts to reform the AC were unsuccessful. Two to seven days after trabeculectomy, the AC was reformed by a single injection of SF6/air mixture (20-40%). Gas was injected through the limbus at 3 or 9 o'clock. The AC remained deep after absorption of the gas in 2-7 days. All patients had stromal oedema in the first 4 days. This resolved and specular microscopy did not show any abnormality. After a mean follow-up of 2.5 years, all had normal intraocular pressure, 3 with one topical antiglaucoma treatment. Three patients developed cataracts before and 3 after reformation of the AC. The latter 3 were not anterior capsular cataracts as induced by gases. SF6/air mixture (20-40%) is inert and kind to the cornea and, as it is absorbed in less than 7 days, it exerts minimal damage to the crystalline lens. It is effective in the reformation of flat ACs.