The Singapore Asymptomatic Narrow Angles Laser Iridotomy Study: Five-Year Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

To examine the efficacy of laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) in patients who received a diagnosis of primary angle-closure suspect (PACS).

Prospective, randomized controlled trial.

This multicenter, randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT00347178) enrolled 480 patients older than 50 years from glaucoma clinics in Singapore with bilateral asymptomatic PACS (defined as having ≥2 quadrants of appositional angle closure on gonioscopy).

Each participant underwent prophylactic LPI in 1 randomly selected eye, whereas the fellow eye served as a control. Patients were followed up yearly for 5 years.

The primary outcome measure was development of primary angle closure (PAC; defined as presence of peripheral anterior synechiae, intraocular pressure [IOP] of >21 mmHg, or both or acute angle closure [AAC]) or primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) over 5 years.

Of the 480 randomized participants, most were Chinese (92.7%) and were women (75.8%) with mean age of 62.8 ± 6.9 years. Eyes treated with LPI reached the end point less frequently after 5 years (n = 24 [5.0%]; incidence rate [IR], 11.65 per 1000 eye-years) compared with control eyes (n = 45 [9.4%]; IR, 21.84 per 1000 eye-years; P = 0.001). The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for progression to PAC was 0.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37-0.83; P = 0.004) in LPI-treated eyes compared with control eyes. Older participants (per year; HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.03-1.10; P < 0.001) and eyes with higher baseline IOP (per millimeter of mercury; HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.22-1.50; P < 0.0001) were more likely to reach an end point. The number needed to treat to prevent an end point was 22 (95% CI, 12.8-57.5).

In patients with bilateral asymptomatic PACS, eyes that underwent prophylactic LPI reached significantly fewer end points compared with control eyes over 5 years. However, the overall incidence of PAC or PACG was low.