INHIBITING WOUND HEALING IN TENON’S CAPSULE

The postoperative healing response that occurs in the subconjunctival tissue following filtration surgery for the treatment of glaucoma is an essential process in determining the success of such surgery. Treatments that modulate the subconjunctival healing response, especially 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and mitomycin C (MMC), have been extremely effective in preventing bleb failure. Constable and coworkers describe the effect of a single dose of β radiation on the wound healing behaviour of human Tenon capsule fibroblasts. They demonstrate that unlike the effects of 5-FU and MMC the growth arresting dose of β radiation does not alter the ability of human Tenon’s fibroblast to migrate or contract. β Radiation appears to act as an effective antiproliferative treatment but not as a global …