A five-year follow-up of argon laser trabeculectomy in a group of 28 male patients with bilateral primary openangle glaucoma showed an overall mean pressure drop of 10.3 mm Hg in treated eyes. Twenty percent of the treated eyes had a pressure less than 20 mm Hg up to two years after treatment. No specific laser parameters were associated with pressure lowering. The pressure drop appears more patient dependent than treatment dependent. A randomized clinical trial is suggested.
Five cases of unilateral and 1 case of bilateral lattice dystrophy of the cornea in 1 family are reported. The diagnosis was made on the basis of the characteristic clinical appearance. The unilateral lesions were generally asymptomatic and required no treatemnt.
The operator must become familiar with the dangers involved with argon laser photocoagulation. The hazards in the use of the argon laser slit-lamp photocoagulator derive from the same properties of the instrument that make it advantageous for the treatment of retinal vascular diseases: the wavelengths are highly absorbed by blood, and the beam can be focused to a small diameter. Of course complications can be avoided entirely by using applications so light the virtually no effect is obtained; but such an approach, although safe, cannot be therapeutic.
