Baerveldt-350 with adjunctive goniotomy: Pilot results.

Purpose: To describe a previously unreported method for optimizing early intraocular pressure-lowering in non-valved aqueous shunt surgery, and to report pilot results from a case series.

Observations: We report pilot results of 30 eyes that underwent Baerveldt-350 implantation with adjunctive goniotomy, in addition to 3 needle-puncture fenestrations, to enhance intraocular pressure lowering and facilitate higher steroid dosing before spontaneous ligature dissolution.

Conclusions And Importance: In patients with open-angle glaucoma, goniotomy is a safe and effective procedure when performed in conjunction with non-valved glaucoma tube shunt implantation.

Cryoprecipitate: An autologous substrate for human fetal retinal pigment epithelium.

Purpose: To harvest thin membranes from cryoprecipitates isolated from human blood donors and utilize them as substrates for the adhesion of human fetal retinal pigment epithelial (HFRPE) cells.

Methods: Frozen human cryoprecipitates from anonymous blood donors were obtained from the blood bank. Thin cryo-membranes were harvested by their mixture with riboflavin-5-phosphate (R5P) and overnight exposure to ultra-violet light.