Glaucoma patients with high IOP have more success with laser treatment

Patients with higher baseline intraocular pressure (IOP) may benefit the most from selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), according to a study.

In this study, 252 eyes from 198 adult patients with open-angle glaucoma who underwent SLT with a minimum 6 month follow up, were included.

After 2 months, 33.6% (76/226) of eyes achieved a ≥20 reduction in IOP and after 6 months, 38.5% (97/252) of eyes met success criteria.

A baseline IOP of >18 mmHg was significantly associated with success at 2 and 6 months, with a 23.7% reduction in IOP compared to a 4.9% increase at 6 months for patients with a lower baseline IOP.

No other baseline characteristics significantly predicted success or IOP spikes.

“There’s been a lack of evidence about how well SLT works, how safe it is and the ideal candidate,” said Senior Author Jella An, MD, an assistant professor of ophthalmology and a fellowship-trained glaucoma specialist at MU Health Care’s Mason Eye Institute, in a university news release. “Because so little is known about SLT, there is a lot of apprehension among specialists about using it as a first-line treatment for glaucoma. Our research findings have helped me redefine the ideal patient for this procedure.”

Reference
Hirabayashi M, Ponnusamy V, An J. Predictive factors for outcomes of selective laser trabeculoplasty. Sci Rep. 2020;10,9428. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66473-0