Laser trabeculoplasty. Early experience with a new procedure.

Twenty-five laser trabeculoplasty procedures were performed on 20 patients. All patients were treated as inpatients so that early changes in intraocular pressure could be monitored. The range of fall was recorded: in four cases there was a significant rise in intraocular pressure in the first four hours which, if sustained, could have lead to a further visual field loss in patients with advanced chronic simple open-angle glaucoma. Patients with a high initial intraocular pressure had the greatest fall in intraocular pressure. Those patients with a more pigmented trabecular meshwork with wide open angles were the easiest to treat and gave the best signs of effective laser endpoint reaction. Gonioplasty was performed in many patients with narrow angles, which gave much better access to the posterior trabecular meshwork.