Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of micropulse trans-scleral laser therapy (mTLT)
in glaucomatous patients.
Design
Prospective, interventional study in a university hospital setting.
Participants
Fifty-two eyes of 52 adult patients with uncontrolled glaucoma despite maximal tolerated
medical treatment, and/or poor candidates for filtering surgery.
Methods
Participants received a 360-degree mTLT diode laser treatment (2000mW, 31.33% duty
cycle), with duration adjusted to iris pigmentation and glaucoma severity (160–320
seconds). They were followed for 18 months to assess intraocular pressure (IOP), number
of medications, corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), glaucoma progression based
on Humphrey Sita 24-2 perimetry and Cirrus high-definition optical coherence tomography,
and complications. The primary outcome measure was the absolute success at 18 months.
Absolute success was defined as an IOP 6–21 mm Hg and at least 25% IOP reduction,
with equal or less number of IOP medications. Qualified success allowed for an increased
number of IOP medications. Failure was defined as an inability to meet the criteria
for success or the need for incisional glaucoma surgery.
Results
Treatment absolute success was 61.5% at 12 months and 59.6% at 18 months. Mean IOP
was reduced by 35.6% at 18 months (23.6 ± 6.5 mm Hg at baseline; 15.2 ± 4.1 mm Hg
at 18 months, p < 0.001). mTLT did not significantly reduce the number of topical glaucoma medications
(p = 0.075); however, 15 eyes (29%) had systemic oral glaucoma treatment at baseline
and 10 eyes (20%) at 18 months. Eight patients (15%) experienced vision loss of ≥2
lines after the procedure. Three patients (6%) regained their preoperative CDVA by
1 month, and 3 patients (6%) by 3 months, while 2 patients (4%) sustained persistent
visual loss. No ocular complications were noted in 84.6%. Incisional surgery was required
in 25% of eyes owing to inadequately controlled glaucoma despite mTLT.
Conclusions
mTLT is a good therapeutic option for moderate IOP reduction, while being safe and
predictable. This improved safety profile makes mTLT a treatment to be considered
earlier in the management of glaucoma.
Objectif
Évaluer l'efficacité et l'innocuité du laser micropulsé trans-scléral dans le traitement
du glaucome.
Nature
Étude prospective d'intervention dans un hôpital universitaire.
Participants
Cinquante-deux yeux de 52 adultes dont le glaucome était réfractaire malgré l'administration
de la dose maximale tolérée du traitement médicamenteux et/ou qui n’étaient pas de
bons candidats à la chirurgie filtrante.
Méthodes
Les participants ont reçu un traitement reposant sur un laser diode micropulsé trans-scléral
sur 360 degrés (2000 mW; cycle de travail de 31,33 %), dont la durée a été ajustée
en fonction de la pigmentation de l'iris et de la gravité du glaucome (160–320 secondes).
Ils ont fait l'objet d'un suivi de 18 mois visant à mesurer les paramètres suivants
: pression intraoculaire (PIO), nombre de médicaments utilisés, acuité visuelle corrigée
de loin (AVCL), progression du glaucome (périmétrie Humphrey Sita 24-2 et tomographie
par cohérence optique Cirrus haute définition) et complications. Le principal paramètre
de mesure était le taux de réussite absolue à 18 mois, qui se définissait comme suit
: PIO se situant entre 6 et 21 mm Hg, réduction d'au moins 25 % de la PIO et prise
d'un nombre égal ou moindre de médicaments antiglaucomateux. Un succès mitigé correspondait
à l'augmentation du nombre d'antiglaucomateux utilisés. L’échec, pour sa part, se
définissait comme une incapacité à répondre aux critères de réussite ou par le besoin
de recourir à une chirurgie incisionnelle.
Résultats
Le taux de réussite absolue du traitement se chiffrait à 61,5 % après 12 mois et à
59,6 % après 18 mois. La PIO moyenne avait diminué de 35,6 % à 18 mois (23,6 ± 6,5
mm Hg au départ; 15,2 ± 4,1 mm Hg après 18 mois; p < 0,001). Le laser micropulsé trans-scléral n'a pas réduit significativement le nombre
de collyres antiglaucomateux utilisés (p = 0,075). Cependant, on note une baisse du nombre de patients qui devaient prendre
un traitement antiglaucomateux oral : 15 yeux (29 %) au départ et 10 yeux (20 %) après
18 mois. Huit patients (15 %) ont subi une perte de vision de ≥ 2 lignes après le
traitement. Trois patients (6 %) ont recouvré leur AVCL préopératoire après 1 mois,
et 3 patients (6 %), après 3 mois. Il s'est produit une perte de vision persistante
chez 2 patients (4 %). Aucune complication oculaire n'est survenue dans 84,6 % des
yeux. La chirurgie incisionnelle est devenue nécessaire dans 25 % des yeux en raison
d'un glaucome réfractaire au laser micropulsé trans-scléral.
Conclusions
Le laser micropulsé trans-scléral représente une option thérapeutique intéressante,
sûre et prévisible pour obtenir une baisse modérée de la PIO. Cette innocuité supérieure
fait du laser micropulsé trans-scléral un traitement à envisager plus tôt dans la
prise en charge du glaucome.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Canadian Journal of OphthalmologyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The number of people with glaucoma worldwide in 2010 and 2020.Br J Ophthalmol. 2006; 90: 262-267
- Global prevalence of glaucoma and projections of glaucoma burden through 2040: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Ophthalmology. 2014; 121: 2081-2090
- Risk Factors in Glaucomatous Progression.Glaucoma Today. 2015; 13: 24-25
- Surgical management of chronic closed angle glaucoma.Asian Pac J Ophthalmol. 2003; 15: 5-10
- Primary surgical management refractory glaucoma: tubes as initial surgery.Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2009; 20: 122-125
- Efficacy and safety of contact trans-scleral diode laser cyclophotocoagulation for advanced glaucoma.J Glaucoma. 2001; 10: 294-301
- Evaluation of contact versus non-contact diode laser cyclophotocoagulation for refractory glaucomas using similar energy settings.Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2004; 32: 33-38
- Trans-scleral diode laser cyclophotocoagulation for the treatment of refractory glaucoma secondary to inflammatory eye diseases.Br J Ophthalmol. 2000; 84: 999-1003
- Diode laser trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation as a primary surgical treatment for primary open angle glaucoma.Arch Ophthalmol. 2001; 119: 345-350
- Trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation in the treatment of secondary glaucoma.Med Sci Monit. 2004; 10: CR542-CR548
- Transscleral diode laser cycloablation in patients with good vision.Br J Ophthalmol. 2010; 94: 1180-1183
- Comparison of acute structural and histopathological changes of the porcine ciliary processes after endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation and transscleral cyclophotocoagulation.Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2007; 35: 270-274
- Micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation in the treatment of refractory glaucoma.Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2010; 38: 266-272
- Micropulse versus continuous wave transscleral diode cyclophotocoagulation in refractory glaucoma: a randomized exploratory study.Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2015; 43: 40-46
- Histologic changes following continuous wave and micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation: a randomized comparative study.Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2020; 9: 22
- Histopathologic changes in cadaver eyes after MicroPulse and continuous wave transscleral cyclophotocoagulation.Can J Ophthalmol. 2020 Aug; 55: 330-335
- Trans-scleral diode laser cyclophotocoagulation in the treatment of advanced refractory glaucoma.Ophthalmology. 1997; 104: 1508-1519
- Longterm outcome of initial ciliary ablation with contact diode laser transscleral cyclophotocoagulation for severe glaucoma. The Diode Laser Ciliary Ablation Study Group.Ophthalmology. 1996; 103: 1294-1302
- Diode laser transscleral cyclophotocoagulation for refractory glaucoma.J Glaucoma. 2001; 10: 288-293
- Transscleral cyclophotocoagulation with the diode laser for neovascular glaucoma.Ophthalmic Surg Lasers. 1998; 29: 722-727
- Intermediate term safety and efficacy of transscleral cyclophotocoagulation after tube shunt failure.J Glaucoma. 2012; 21: 83-88
- Subthreshold micropulse diode laser photocoagulation for clinically significant diabetic macular oedema: a three-year follow up.Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2007; 35: 640-644
- Subthreshold grid laser treatment of macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion with micropulse infrared (810 nanometer) diode laser.Ophthalmology. 2006; 113: 2237-2242
- Micropulse and continuous wave diode retinal photocoagulation: visible and subvisible lesion parameters.Br J Ophthalmol. 2006; 90: 709-712
- Subthreshold micropulse diode laser treatment in diabetic macular oedema.Br J Ophthalmol. 2004; 88: 1173-1179
- Selective RPE damage by micropulsed diode laser photocoagulation.Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1992; 33: 722
- Clinical applications of the micropulse diode laser.Eye. 1999; 13: 145-150
- Tissue effects of subclinical diode laser treatment of the retina.Arch Ophthalmol. 1998; 116: 1633-1639
- Thermal modeling of micropulsed diode laser retinal photocoagulation.Lasers Surg Med. 1997; 20: 409-415
- An update on continuous-wave cyclophotocoagulation (CW-CPC) and micropulse transscleral laser treatment (MP-TLT) for adult and paediatric refractory glaucoma.Acta Ophthalmol. 2020; (Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33222409)https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.14661
- Micropulse versus continuous wave transscleral cyclophotocoagulation in refractory pediatric glaucoma.J Glaucoma. 2018; 27: 900-905
- Update on micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation.J Glaucoma. 2020; 29: 598-603
- Micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation: a hypothesis for the ideal parameters.Med Hypothesis Discov Innov Ophthalmol. 2018; 7: 94-100
- Micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation: a look at long-term effectiveness and outcomes.Ophthalmol Glaucoma. 2019; 2: 167-171
- Treatment outcomes of micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation in advanced glaucoma.Lasers Med Sci. 2016; 31: 393-396
- Micropulse Cyclophotocoagulation: Initial Results in Refractory Glaucoma.J Glaucoma. 2017; 26: 726-729
- Clinical Efficacy and Safety Profile of Micropulse Transscleral Cyclophotocoagulation in Refractory Glaucoma.J Glaucoma. 2018; 27: 445-449
- Mechanism of intraocular pressure decrease after contact trans-scleral continuous wave Nd:YAG laser cyclophotocoagulation.Ophthalmic Res. 1994; 26: 65-79
- Micropulse diode laser trabeculoplasty (MDLT): a phase II clinical study with 12 months follow-up.Clin Ophthalmol. 2008; 2: 247-252
- Transcleral Laser Induces Aqueous Outflow Pathway Motion & Reorganization. 2017. AGS, Coronado, CA2017
- Boston keratoprosthesis type 1 device leak.Can J Ophthalmol. 2014; 49: 106-108
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 09, 2021
Accepted:
January 20,
2021
Received in revised form:
January 18,
2021
Received:
May 16,
2020
Footnotes
Clinical trial registration number: NCT03187418
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.