| Summary: | Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy and the major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Although the pathogenesis of glaucoma is not completely understood, the most important risk factor for development and progression of the disease is an elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Current glaucoma treatment aims to reduce the IOP in the affected eye. This can be achieved by topical drops, laser therapy or surgery. Laser treatment is used at different stages of the glaucoma disease. Some types of laser procedures are used as first-line treatments or as complement to topical medications or surgery, while other types are used in advanced glaucoma as a last option when other therapies have failed. Although laser therapy has long been used to reduce the IOP in glaucoma, knowledge gaps remain. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety, in both a short- and long-term perspective, of two of the most frequently used laser procedures in glaucoma: laser trabeculoplasty (LTP) and transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (TCP). In the first study, a retrospective analysis, the long-term efficacy and safety of TCP was evaluated in 300 eyes of 300 glaucoma patients in northern Sweden. We found an overall substantial IOP reduction of more than 10 mmHg that was maintained at least 2 years in various types of glaucoma. Following TCP, the patients could reduce their treatment with an average of one substance of topical glaucoma medication in the treated eye. No case of phthisis bulbi, the most feared complication of TCP, was reported. However, a general decline in visual acuity (VA) was noted during the two-year follow up period, and the cause of this finding was difficult to assess due to the retrospective nature of the study. The short-term effect of TCP on IOP was further investigated in a prospective study of 58 eyes of 58 glaucoma patients. IOP was measured at baseline before TCP and at five additional time-points up to 24 hours after the treatment. The VA was measured before TCP and at the 24 h ...
|
|---|