Ex-PRESS implant
- Correspondence to: A Mermoud Hopital Ophtalmique Jules Gonin, Avenue de France 15, CH-1004 Lausanne, Switzerland; andre.mermoudophtal.vd.ch
Fast, simple, safe, efficient?
In the past 5 years, the Ex-PRESS drainage device has been mentioned in the discussions of glaucoma surgeons. Its place in the surgical management of glaucoma has not been clear so far and much contradictory information and controversy have been circulated.
In this issue of the BJO (p 425) is presented the first written clinical report on the Ex-PRESS tube used in combined cataract and glaucoma surgery.
Glaucoma drainage devices (GDDs) were first introduced a century ago. Much experience has been gained in the use of these devices, and has led to many modifications in design, construction, and implantation techniques.1 In 1969 Molteno launched the concept of a tube and plate for glaucoma drainage, in which the plate is secured onto the episclera, helping with the formation of a posterior orbital filtering bleb.2,3 Contemporary GDDs, which dominate the market are the Molteno, Krupin, Baerveldt, Ahmed, and OptiMed devices, which all share the essential design concept of posterior filtration via a tube (outer diameter 0.56–0.63 mm) from the anterior chamber to a plate element secured to the episclera; they differ in plate design and size (135–500 mm2) and their provision for a …
