Abstract
A prospective, randomised comparison of Nd:YAG laser iridotomy and operative peripheral iridectomy in the fellow eye of 52 patients presenting with acute angle closure glaucoma has been undertaken. Nd:YAG laser iridotomy resulted in a significantly higher incidence of iris bleeding at the time of treatment (p<0.05), higher intraocular pressure one hour (p<0.02) and three hours (p<0.02) following treatment, and a higher incidence of focal corneal oedema 24 hours following treatment (p<0.001). One laser treated patient developed acute angle closure glaucoma two weeks following treatment despite the presence of a small patent iridotomy.
After a mean follow-up period of 11.8 months there was no significant difference between the two groups in visual acuity, or intraocular pressure. It is concluded that Nd:YAG laser iridotomy is a satisfactory alternative to operative peripheral iridectomy in the prophylactic treatment of fellow eyes.
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Fleck, B., Dhillon, B., Khanna, V. et al. A randomised, prospective comparison of ND:YAG laer iridotomy and operative peripheral iridectomy in fellow eyes. Eye 5, 315–321 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1991.50
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1991.50