This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Diode laser safer than argon for threshold ROP, study suggests
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
HOUSTON — Transpupillary diode laser photocoagulation for threshold retinopathy of prematurity is associated with a low risk of acquired cataract and may be safer than argon laser photocoagulation, a study here indicates.
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine retrospectively reviewed 293 eyes of 153 infants treated for threshold ROP with transpupillary 810-nm diode laser photocoagulation (Iris Medical Oculight, Iridex).
Patients included in the study were followed for a minimum of 6 weeks. At the last follow-up point, no visually significant cataracts occurred in any of the treated eyes. One eye developed small peripheral cortical lenticular opacities, detected 7 weeks after treatment. The opacities were not visually significant and were not progressive after 2 years of follow-up, study authors said.
The incidence of acquired cataract after argon laser photocoagulation has previously been reported to be between 1% and 6%.
The authors attribute the higher incidence of cataracts in argon laser photocoagulation to greater thermal absorption by the lens proteins or hemoglobin in the blood circulating through a persistent anterior tunica vasculosa lentis in the premature infant. They said the reduced incidence of cataract in their study is due to the reduced absorption of diode laser energy by hemoglobin.
The study is published in the September issue of Ophthalmology.