[Comparative evaluation of hypotensive effectiveness of topical monotherapy and selective laser trabeculectomy]

Comparison of the hypotensive effects of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) and drug therapy in patients with newly diagnosed primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension.

Thirty patients (30 eyes) with newly diagnosed ophthalmic hypertension or POAG were observed. Patients of the 1st group (15 eyes) underwent standard SLT as a starting treatment, patients of the 2nd group (15 eyes) were prescribed monotherapy with a prostaglandin analog. Corneal compensated intraocular pressure (IOPcc) was measured for each patient using Ocular Response Analyzer («Reichert Technologies», USA). The observation period lasted 6 months.

During the 6-months follow-up, tafluprost was found to effectively reduce IOP in 93.3% of cases, SLT - in 73.3% of cases. There were no statistically significant differences in hypotensive effectiveness between the two compared treatments, which amounted to 27.9-28.5% reduction from the baseline values.

Selective laser trabeculectomy and topical drug therapy have shown similar hypotensive effectiveness during the 6-months follow-up when used as the initial therapy for POAG.