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Br J Ophthalmol doi:10.1136/bjo.2008.139568

Initial experience with the Pascal® Photocoagulator - a pilot study of 75 procedures.

  1. Chintan Sanghvi (casanghvi{at}yahoo.co.uk),
  2. Rita McLauchlan (vrnp{at}ntlworld.com),
  3. Christine Waterman (christinewaterman{at}hotmail.com),
  4. Lorna Young,
  5. Stephen Charles,
  6. George Marcellino,
  7. Paulo Stanga (retinaspecialist{at}btinternet.com)
  1. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
  2. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
  3. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
  4. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
  5. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
  6. OptiMedica Corporation,, United Kingdom
  7. Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, United Kingdom
    • Published Online First 27 June 2008

    Abstract

    Background - The Pascal® is a semi-automated photocoagulator that delivers a pattern array of multiple burns in a rapid predetermined sequence with a single foot pedal depression. Each burn is reduced to 10 or 20ms to achieve this. We aim to report our early experience with this system.

    Methods – 75 procedures done in 60 patients divided into four groups – group A – patients undergoing PRP, group B – patients undergoing focal or modified grid macular laser, group C – patients undergoing macular grid, and group D – patients undergoing retinopexy were retrospectively studied.

    Results –31/34 procedures in group A, 24/26 procedures in group B, 5/7 procedures in group C and all 8 patients in group D had successful outcomes. Significantly higher powers were required with the Pascal® than with conventional laser (p<0.001) in eyes that underwent PRP and focal/modified grid macular treatment with both systems. Single session PRP was successfully performed in 5 patients and 5 were successfully treated with a macular grid using pattern arrays only. No adverse events were noted.

    Conclusion – Although the shorter pulse duration of the Pascal® necessitates the use of higher power, it is not associated with adverse effects. Our results suggest that the Pascal® photocoagulator is safe, effective and offers several potential advantages related to the brief exposure time.

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