Laser trabeculoplasty and decay effects in glaucoma patients

Forty patients (47 eyes) with open-angle glaucoma who had been treated by laser trabeculoplasty to help reduce intraocular pressure were reviewed. The majority of patients had been followed for at least one year. Eighty-nine percent responded satisfactorily, with an average pressure decrease of 5 mmHg. There was no evidence of decay (pressure reversal) after one year. Seventy-six percent of patients who had been on carbonic anhydrase inhibitor medication were able to discontinue this therapy after laser treatment. Blacks, aphakic and diabetic patients responded satisfactorily, but hypertensive patients and those with narrow-angle glaucoma less so. Re-lasering was successful in only one of 6 patients.