[Cyclodiathermy: is it effective in the treatment of glaucoma?]

The authors describe the non penetrating technique of cyclodiathermy in the treatment of different types of glaucoma and publish the results and the complications of the application of this technique on thirty three eyes among their patients. These eyes included congenital glaucoma (8 eyes), aphakic glaucoma (5 eyes), after silicone surgery (5 eyes), neovascular glaucoma (4 eyes), traumatic glaucoma (4 eyes), secondary glaucoma (3 eyes), Sturge-Weber-Krabbe (2 eyes) and open angle glaucoma (2 eyes). Their study with a mean follow up of 2.5 years shows an overall success rate of 60%. The success is defined as an ocular tension less than or equal to 22 mmHg in the absence of serious complications. All the encountered complications are mentioned. Phtysis occurred in not more than 3% of cases (1 eye). They establish a comparison with the published results and complications of the other cyclodestructive procedures: Sonocare, transcleral laser Yag, transcleral laser Ruby and cyclocryotherapy. This comparison does not prove the superiority of these other procedures with regard to the non penetrating cyclodiathermy. They conclude that this non penetrating cyclodiathermy is a non expensive procedure which still have its good therapeutic value.