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Acute transient corneal endothelial changes following selective laser trabeculoplasty
Author(s) -
White Andrew JR,
Mukherjee Achyut,
Hanspal Inderraj,
Sarkies Nicholas J,
Martin Keith R,
Shah Peter
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
clinical and experimental ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.3
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1442-9071
pISSN - 1442-6404
DOI - 10.1111/ceo.12022
Subject(s) - medicine , ophthalmology , intraocular pressure , cornea , endothelial stem cell , visual acuity , in vitro , biochemistry , chemistry
Background To report for the first time acute transient corneal endothelial changes following selective laser trabeculoplasty. Design Observational case series at a tertiary referral ophthalmological centre in the U nited K ingdom ( A ddenbrooke's H ospital, C ambridge) Participants Ten consecutive routinely treated patients. Methods Baseline measurements of corneal specular microscopy, endothelial cell counts and in vivo confocal microscopy were performed prior to routine selective laser trabeculoplasty treatment. Repeat measurements were made approximately 1 h later and at a 6‐week follow up. Main Outcome Measures Endothelial in vitro laser confocal microscopy, specular microscopic endothelial cell count, endothelial morphology, visual acuity and intraocular pressure. Results All patients had normal corneal endothelia prior to routine selective laser trabeculoplasty treatment, where 180 degrees of angle was treated. Approximately an hour afterwards, nearly all patients still had normal specular microscopy and cell counts (2237 ± 211 cells/mm 2 ) but had subtle endothelial changes on slit‐lamp examination. These changes were found diffusely across the cornea. The changes were not present at the 6‐week follow up and cell counts remained unchanged (2278 ± 242 cells/mm 2 ). Acuity remained unchanged throughout and the patients were not aware of these changes subjectively. Conclusions Selective laser trabeculoplasty appears to cause transient corneal endothelial changes in most patients that have no impact on cell count or visual acuity. Further work is required to elucidate the mechanism of this phenomenon and any long‐term impact.