: To evaluate the effect of mitomycin-C (MMC) on corneal endothelial cell density and morphology in trabeculectomy

This study is Prospective comparative case series with Thirty one eyes with glaucoma undergoing trabeculectomy with (group I) or without (group II) MMC. patients underwent specular microscopic examination pre- and postoperatively at month 1 and month 3. Main outcome measures: Central corneal endothelial cell count and coefficient of variation (CV) of cell size.

preoperative endothelial cell density was 2135.8 ± 397.6 Cells/mm2 and at postoperative months 1 and 3 was 2019.6 ± 447.2 and 1991.4 ± 425.5 (p > 0.05). The cell loss from 1 to 3 month was 1.3 % (p > 0.05). Subgroup analysis showed significant differences in cell loss at month 1 (P = 0.048) and month 3 (P = 0.014) between MMC and control group without significant difference between the two groups in term of cell loss from 1 to 3 month postoperatively (P = 0.968). pre and post-operative months 1 and 3 mean CV were 27.38±4.55, 27.96±4.26, and 28.35±4.47, respectively without any significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05)

MMC may have a small but significant role in endothelial loss in trabeculectomy. It seems that most damage occurs intraoperatively or at early post-operative period and progressive endothelial cell toxicity is not a major concern.