Micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation for the treatment of glaucoma

Abstract

Because of the unpredictable hypotensive effect and serious complications during continuous-wave cyclophotocoagulation (CW-CPC), the use of this method in the treatment of glaucoma is limited. Therefore, a new technique was developed, known as micropulse trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation (MP-CPC). During MP-CPC, a series of short bursts of laser pulses deliver energy to the ciliary body at the near-infrared wavelength of 810 nm, which is strongly absorbed by melanin. As shown by experimental studies, there are several acting mechanisms which reduce IOP decrease during MP-CPC. In clinical studies, patients with different forms and stages of glaucoma received laser energy of similar parameters during MP-CPC. It may be concluded that MP-CPC is a safe and effective alternative to traditional CW-CPC. However if laser irradiation directed to the ciliary body during MP-CPC gets longer, the incidence of complications increases. The variation of glaucoma forms in patients who underwent MP-CPC and a relatively small number of cases involved in the studies prevent us from making an unambiguous recommendation of this technique at the moment. An extensive research of the technique is required.

Keywords

• glaucoma
• micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation
• literature review
• safety
• efficiency