Diode Laser Trabeculoplasty in Patients with Pseudoexfoliative Glaucoma

Abstract

Aim:A prospective study was carried out to examine the efficacy of diode laser trabeculoplasty (DLT) in the treatment of pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (XFG).Material and Methods:Laser trabeculoplasty was performed by Zeiss VISULAS 532s diode pumped solid state laser on 69 eyes of 40 patients with XFG and primary open-angle glaucoma. Power of 600–1,200 mW was used, with a spot size of 100 microns and a pulse of 0.10 second. One hour before DLT brimonidine 0.1 % was administered and during seven days after the treatment Dexamethasone 1 % was administered. All patients underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation before and at intervals after treatment (seven days, one, three and six months and one year postoperatively). During the follow-up period, patients were treated with the same topical anti-glaucoma medicaments as before diode laser trabeculoplasty.Results:Before treatment in XFG patients mean intraocular pressure (IOP) was 23.7±2.6 mmHg and seven days after DLT it was 16.8 ± 2.1 mmHg that is 26.9 % decrease from the baseline, on day 30 it was 14.3 ± 2.2 mmHg which is 38.3 % decrease from the baseline, after 3 months 13.9 ± 2.4 mmHg (39.0 % decrease from the baseline), after six months 13.8 ± 2.7 mmHg or 39.9 % decrease from the baseline and after one year 15.1 ± 3.1 mmHg that makes 36.3 % decrease from the baseline. No side effects (either objective or subjective) were present in examined patients.Conclusions:There is statistically significant difference between IOP before and after diode laser trabeculoplasty, so it is concluded that diode laser trabeculoplasty is an effective mode of treatment for eyes with open-angle glaucoma especially in patients with XFG.