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IOP-lowering effect of excimer laser trabeculostomy stable over long term
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SAN FRANCISCO — Excimer laser trabeculostomy is an effective IOP-lowering procedure, shown to consistently lower IOP over 5 years, according to a poster presented at the American Glaucoma Society annual meeting.
"ELT is a MIGS procedure requiring no foreign body implantation," poster coauthor Michael S. Berlin, MD, told Ocular Surgery News. The study findings are significant, he said, because the results are achieved with excimer laser trabeculostomy (ELT) alone, not combined with cataract surgery.
In a prospective study of 46 eyes of 46 patients with open-angle glaucoma not controlled on maximum medications, ELT was performed as a standalone procedure. Using peribulbar anesthesia and a fiber optic ELT probe, the surgeon traversed the anterior chamber from a superotemporal paracentesis to contact the trabecular meshwork and excise five to 10 200-µm channels into Schlemm’s canal in the lower nasal quadrant. IOP was significantly reduced at all time points: 1 month, 6 months, and 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years.
"Five-year data show that the initial pressure lowering following ELT at 1 month is steady and remains stable over a 5-year duration. There is a certain advantage now in a group of patients who would benefit from MIGS procedures to have a procedure which is relatively easy to perform, can be performed by certainly all glaucoma surgeons, and will stabilize pressure for at least a period of 5 years," Berlin said.
Disclosure: Berlin has no relevant financial disclosures.