Cyclocryotherapy of chronic open-angle glaucoma in aphakic eyes.
Twenty-six eyes of 25 patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma and surgical aphakia with inadequate control of intraocular pressure (IOP) despite maximal medical treatment were treated with cyclocryotherapy, according to a prospective protocol and specific technique. (Neovascular and synechial glaucoma were excluded from this series.) In most cases topical medications were resumed after cyclocryotherapy. During follow-up of seven to 95 months (average, 46 months), IOP was reduced to 19 mm Hg or lower in 24 out of 26 eyes (92%). In two eyes, persistent decrease in visual acuity, unrelated to reduction of IOP, occurred after cyclocryotherapy. On the basis of the long-term benefits obtained by this procedure, we concluded that cyclocryotherapy should be considered the procedure of choice in the treatment of primary open-angle glaucoma in surgically aphakic eyes when pressure cannot be adequately reduced by maximally tolerated medical treatment.
D000368:Aged; D001036:Aphakia, Postcataract / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications