Noncontact transscleral Nd:YAG cyclophotocoagulation: a long-term follow-up of 500 patients

Long-term experience with transscleral cyclophotocoagulation in 500 patients suggests that this operation is the cyclodestructive procedure of choice. It offers a reasonable surgical option in the high-risk glaucoma population, which includes patients with neovascular glaucoma, glaucomas with active uveitis, glaucomas in aphakia or pseudophakia, and other cases in which filtering surgery has failed or is felt to have a low chance for success. Satisfactory intraocular pressure reduction was achieved in 62% of the patients with one treatment session. After one or more repeated procedures in 21% of the study group, the final intraocular pressure was below baseline in 94%, with a mean final reduction of 24 mm Hg, which was judged to be adequate for 87% of the patients. However, visual loss remains a significant postoperative complication, with some degree of reduced vision occurring in 39% of the study population. Patients with neovascular glaucoma had the greatest percentage of visual loss at 46%, compared with 34% and 38% for patients with glaucomas in pseudophakia and aphakia, respectively. While it is hard to know how many of these cases of visual loss were a direct result of the cyclophotocoagulation, the procedure should be used with caution in eyes with a potential for good central vision. Further study is needed to determine the relative indications for transcleral cyclophotocoagulation and the various operations to increase aqueous outflow in the management of patients in the high-risk glaucoma population.