Comparison of argon laser iridotomy and sequential argon laser and Nd:YAG laser iridotomy in dark irides.
OBJECTIVE
A prospective study was performed to compare argon laser iridotomy and sequential argon laser and Nd:YAG laser iridotomy in dark irides.


METHODS
Twenty-four eyes of 17 patients underwent laser iridotomies; 13 underwent argon laser iridotomies and 11 underwent sequential argon laser and Nd:YAG laser iridotomies. The argon laser settings were standardized at 1.2 W, 50-mum spot size, and 0.1-second duration. The Nd:YAG laser was set at 2.5 mJ and single-pulse shots were used.


RESULTS
All of the iridotomies were patent at the end of one treatment session. The mean total energy used for argon laser iridotomy was 8.28 J. For sequential iridotomy, 3.12 J was used for the argon laser stage and 7.5 mJ for the Nd:YAG laser stage.


CONCLUSIONS
The total argon laser energy used can be reduced by 2.65 times by using the sequential laser iridotomy technique.
Lim
L
L
Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore 168751.
Seah
S K
SK
Lim
A S
AS
D000368:Aged; D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D005127:Eye Color; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007498:Iris / Q000601:surgery*; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
D000538:Aluminum Silicates