Study of the first hundred phakic eyes treated by peripheral iridotomy using the N.D. Yag laser.

ABSTRACT

Performing a peripheral iridotomy with a ND Yag laser is a simple and efficient technique, with no side effects, no need for anaesthesia other than local and no surgical opening of the eye, with all the risks it entails. Out of 100 cases, 100% were a success from a technical point of view, and we observed no lesion of the lens which could have caused cataract. This out-patient technique, causing fewer complications than with Argon laser, can be used on any patient, whatever the age and the state of the angle, who has to be treated by peripheral iridotomy. The Neodymium Yag laser (ND Yag) is a pulsed solid laser (1, 2, 3, 8, 29, 31). It cuts tissues (photodisruption) by means of a shock-wave produced by optical breakdown (plasma formation). Its effect is different from that of the Argon laser which burns tissues (photocoagulation). The present study, of 100 cases, deals with the use of ND Yag in peripheral iridotomies.