Laser trabeculotomy or trabeculoplasty. Early experience with a new non-invasive surgical technique for glaucoma

A series of 38 laser trabeculoplasty operations in 32 eyes of 29 patients is described. An average fall of 5.32 mmHg intraocular pressure was obtained; if secondary glaucomas were excluded the average fall was 7.39 mmHg. If a fall of 10 mmHg or more is considered a good result then eight eyes obtained a good result, five of these eyes having pseudoexfoliative glaucoma. A fall of 3-9 mmHg was considered a moderate result and 12 eyes obtained this, 11 of them having chronic simple open-angle glaucoma, the other being the only other case of pseudoexfoliative glaucoma in the series. Five eyes with chronic simple open-angle glaucoma and seven eyes with secondary glaucoma all obtained no significant fall. It is stressed that in chronic simple open-angle glaucoma there was often only a small fall or no fall at all, so that it seems unwise to temporize if there is a high uncontrolled pressure in this condition. Great care is also needed in advanced chronic simple open-angle glaucoma because of the occasional occurrence of a high rise of pressure soon after operation. The procedure works well in pseudoexfoliative glaucoma.