Five-year follow up of selective laser trabeculoplasty in Chinese eyes

To study the effectiveness and safety of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) on primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension in Chinese eyes.

This was a prospective randomized controlled clinical study in which 58 eyes of 29 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension were included. One eye of each patient was randomized to receive SLT (Group 1) and the fellow eyes received medical treatment (Group 2). Patients were evaluated after laser treatment at 2 h, 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and then yearly.

All patients (13 male, 16 female) were Chinese. The mean age was 51.9 +/- 14.7 years. The mean baseline intraocular pressure was 26.8 +/- 5.6 mmHg in group 1 and 26.2 +/- 4.2 mmHg in group 2 (P = 0.62). The failure rate, defined as intraocular pressure >21 mmHg with maximal medications, was 17.2% in group 1 and 27.6% in group 2 at 5-year follow-up (P = 0.53). Eight eyes (27.6%) in group 1 required medications to control the intraocular pressure to below 21 mmHg. There was no statistically significant difference in the intraocular pressure reductions between the two groups at all time intervals (P > 0.05). The mean number of antiglaucoma medications was significantly lower in the SLT than the medical treatment group up to 5 years of follow up (P < 0.001). Transient post-SLT intraocular pressure spike >5 mmHg was observed in three eyes (10.3%).

With fewer medications, SLT gives similar intraocular pressure reduction to medical therapy alone in Chinese patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.