Re-treatment with SLT after initial treatment failure does not reduce IOP

Two treatments with selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in the same area of the trabecular meshwork (TM) do not significantly affect IOP, compared with two SLT treatments in differing areas, according to a recent study published in Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.

For this prospective, randomized clinical trial, patients with primary open-angle or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma were initially treated with SLT over 180° in the lower half of the trabecular meshwork (SLT 1). A total of 40 patients chosen for re-treatment with SLT were included in the study, and were randomized to either SLT 2 in the same, previously treated area of the TM, or to SLT 2 in the upper untreated area of the TM. IOPs were measured at pre-treatment, 2 hours, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after SLT 2.

At baseline, no significant between-group differences existed in age, gender, pseudoexfoliation, glaucoma, time between SLT 1 and SLT 2, IOP before SLT, or IOP before SLT 2. After the study was completed, there were no significant differences in IOP between the groups after SLT 2 at 2 hours (t-test, P = 0.65), 1 month (t-test, P = 0.60), 3 months (t-test, P = 0.42), or 6 months (t-test, P = 0.66).

To access this study, go to the journal's website here.