Abstract
Purpose. Io review and eva1uate .he success of argon laer trabeculoplasty on a predominantly Afri :an-American population in the glaucoma dim; at Howard Univerity Hospital. Methods. ihe medical records of patients who had ârgo i laser trabeculoplasty ALT) between July 1992 and December 1994 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographics, visual acirties, type of .mtiglaucoma medication, and intraocular pressure were noted. The average of three consecutive intraocular pressure (IOP) readings were calculated for baseline IOP, for IOP 3 months, ômonths, 1 year, years, and 3 years post ALT. All patients underwent perimetry tesing by Humphrey Visual Field at some point before ALT and within a year after ALT. Success was defined as 1) IOP less than 22mmHg and 30; reduction of IOP from baseline, 2) avoidance of surger- and, 3) a stable Humphrey Visual Field. The dati was analyzed using the SAS statistical program. A Kaplan-Meier life-table analysis was done. Results. Mean IOP dropped after the first 3 months post AL and remained relatively stable between 3 and 24 months. There wa; no change in the average number of medications after ALT. Using thi life-table analysis method, our success rate at 4 months after AIT was calculated at 93%. At 12 months our success rate was 77%. At 24 months it was 38% and at 31.6 months it dropped to 2Q% in our patient population. Conclusion. We compared our results to those of similar retropective studies and found that our long term sua ess declined more precipitously with time. The possible reasons for Al Ts lower success rate in the African-American population are isciissed.