Glaucoma surgery during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose To summarize the actions taken to give continuity to the surgical treatment of glaucoma patients and to present the volume and characteristics of glaucoma surgery in the first year of pandemic at the Tertiary Glaucoma Center of the University Hospital of Verona (Veneto, Italy). Methods Demographical and surgical features of patients who underwent glaucoma surgery from March 9th, 2020 to March 8th, 2021 have been collected and compared to the same date range of the previous year. The analyzed data included age, gender, region of origin, glaucoma staging, type of anesthesia and surgical procedure. Results The surgical volume of glaucoma has dropped by 30.1%. In comparison with the previous year, we found a significant variation in the overall distribution of the performed surgical procedures (p < 0.001). There was a decline in Baerveldt tube implants (− 4.9%), and an increase of non-penetrating surgery (+ 2.6%), cyclo-photo ablative procedures (+ 4.2%) and MIGS (+ 5.7%). Only 24.3% of the procedures were performed under general anesthesia compared to 41.5% in the pre-pandemic period (p < 0.001). The number of procedures performed on eyes affected by advanced or end-stage glaucoma is doubled (p < 0.001). Conclusions To give continuity to glaucoma surgery, we prioritized interventions on patients with poorer visual fields, rapidly progressing visual field deficit and elevated IOP uncontrolled by maximal medical therapy. Secondly, we have rescheduled the other interventions following the same priority criteria. Finally, we managed some lower priority cases with MIGS, minimizing the need for close post-intervention follow-up. Considering the negative consequences that a delay in the management of glaucoma can have in terms of visual loss, the closure of the operating rooms in the first quarter of the pandemic was detrimental. It appears that glaucoma surgery deserves urgencies that cannot be overshadowed and the greatest effort must be to give continuity to this type of eye surgery.

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Annual Trends of Ophthalmic Surgeries in Japan’s Super-aged Society, 2014– 2020: A National Claims Database Study

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Glaucoma Characteristics and Influencing Factors during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the Huizhou Region

“…Tis understanding will allow a comprehensive investigation of the risk factors of glaucoma and treatment strategies. However, previous studies, both locally and internationally, have primarily focused on analyzing the challenges faced by patients with glaucoma in terms of follow-up care during the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in surgical approaches, and treatment modifcations [3,[7][8][9]. Limited research has examined the characteristics and potential factors infuencing the development of glaucoma, specifcally AACG, in patients who tested positive for COVID-19 during the outbreak.…”