To evaluate the surgical results of Ahmed valve implant surgery with adjunctive mitomycin C and selective postoperative 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) subconjunctival injection with a needling procedure.

In this retrospective study, 40 eyes of 40 patients who had undergone Ahmed valve implant surgery with adjunctive mitomycin C were observed for at least 1 year. The Ahmed valve was implanted after 5-minute application of 0.04% mitomycin C. Selective 5-FU injection with a needling procedure was performed during the follow- up period based on intraocular pressure (IOP). Hypertensive phase was defined as IOP higher than 21 mm Hg within 3 months after operation. IOP higher than 18 mm Hg regardless of IOP-lowering medications at 2 consecutive visits was considered to be a surgical failure.

The mean follow-up period was 35.5 ± 12.4 months. Preoperative intraocular pressure was 32.8 ± 7.5 mm Hg, which decreased to 14.0 ± 4.2 mm Hg post-operatively. The number of glaucoma medications decreased significantly from 3.8 ± 0.5 to 2.0 ± 1.0. Eleven of 40 eyes (27.5%) experienced hypertensive phase at 6.0 ± 3.1 weeks after surgery. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed cumulative probability of surgical success rates of 82.5%, 79.6%, 72.7%, and 58.8% at 1, 2, 3, and 4 postoperative years respectively. There were no risk factors that affecting surgical failure except age (hazard ratio = 0.17, p = 0.02).

Ahmed valve implant surgery with adjunctive mitomycin C and selective 5-FU injection with a needling procedure showed good success in refractory glaucoma.