Selective laser trabeculoplasty in the treatment of juvenile open angle glaucoma patients under 25 years of age.

AIM: To retrospectively evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) treatment in juvenile open angle glaucoma (JOAG) cases.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: The 46 eyes of 28 cases that had undergone SLT for JOAG and had a follow-up of at least one month were included in the study. The pre-SLT, month 1, month 6, year 1, year 2, and final follow-up intraocular pressure (IOP); the number of drugs before and after the SLT procedure; and the complications caused by the SLT were recorded. An IOP below 21 mmHg without any additional medication or glaucoma surgery and an IOP decrease of 20% or more compared to the baseline were considered successful.

RESULTS: There were 18 females and 10 males with a mean age of 17.52 ± 2.7 (13-22) years. The cases were followed-up for a mean duration of 39 (5-59) months. The mean IOP was 23.93 ± 0.52 mmHg before SLT and decreased to 17.15 ± 0.57 mmHg at month 1 after the procedure, 17.17 ± 0.52 mmHg at month 6, 18.02 ± 0.77 mmHg at year 1, 18.12 ± 0.48 mmHg at year 2, and 20.93 ± 0.69 mmHg at the final follow-up. The post-SLT IOP measurements at all times were found to be significantly lower than the pre-SLT values (p < 0.001). The mean number of drugs was 1.5 before the SLT and 0.59 afterwards (p < 0.001). The most common complications after SLT were anterior chamber inflammation in 29 cases (63.04%), hyperemia in 20 (43.40%) cases (4.34%), an early period IOP increase of 5 mmHg or more in 11 cases (23.91%), and mild ocular pain in 2 cases (4.34%).

CONCLUSION: SLT is an effective and reliable method for JOAG treatment.