Patterned laser trabeculoplasty.
OBJECTIVE
A novel computer-guided laser treatment for open-angle glaucoma, called patterned laser trabeculoplasty, and its preliminary clinical evaluation is described.


METHODS
Forty-seven eyes of 25 patients with open-angle glaucoma received 532-nm laser treatment with 100-μm spots. Power was titrated for trabecular meshwork blanching at 10 ms and sub-visible treatment was applied with 5-ms pulses. The arc patterns of 66 spots rotated automatically after each laser application so that the new pattern was applied at an untreated position.


RESULTS
Approximately 1,100 laser spots were placed per eye in 16 steps, covering 360° of trabecular meshwork. The intraocular pressure decreased from the pretreatment level of 21.9 ± 4.1 to 16.0 ± 2.3 mm Hg at 1 month (n = 41) and remained stable around 15.5 ± 2.7 mm Hg during 6 months of follow-up (n = 30).


CONCLUSIONS
Patterned laser trabeculoplasty provides rapid, precise, and minimally traumatic (sub-visible) computer-guided treatment with exact abutment of the patterns, exhibiting a 24% reduction in intraocular pressure during 6 months of follow-up (P < .01).
Association to Prevent Blindness in Mexico (APEC), Mexico City, Mexico.
Mauricio
M
Turati
Felix
F
Gil-Carrasco
Adolfo
A
Morales
Hugo
H
Quiroz-Mercado
Dan
D
Andersen
George
G
Marcellino
Georg
G
Schuele
Daniel
D
Palanker
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014129:Trabecular Meshwork / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014130:Trabeculectomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome