Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of diode laser contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation in Asian patients with refractory glaucoma by lower energy settings with an innovative probe featuring a glass ball tip that focused the laser beam onto the ciliary body.
Methods: This prospective clinical study included consecutive Asian patients with dark irides and confirmed for glaucoma. Only one eye of each patient was treated. Diode laser contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation treatment was performed with the center of the probe placed 1.5 mm behind the limbus. About 30 pulses of 810-mm laser radiation (power, 1.8 to 2.0 W; duration, 0.3 to 0.5 second) were applied around the eye. Patients were examined at fixed postoperative intervals. Intraocular pressure levels and postoperative complications were recorded. The relation between patient and disease characteristics, total laser energy delivered, and intraocular pressure effects were analyzed.
Results: Thirty-three patients were studied, with a mean follow-up period of 9.4 months. An average 56% of patients showed a 30% or greater drop in intraocular pressure. About 38% of patients achieved sustained intraocular pressure lowering to below 22 mm Hg at 18 months. Complications were few and included transient hypotony and iritis.
Conclusions: In Asian patients with refractory glaucoma or painful glaucomatous eyes with poor visual acuity (defined for this study as worse than 20/200), low-energy-setting diode laser contact transscleral cyclophotocoagulation by means of the glass ball probe is relatively effective and safe.