This is a type of laser used in patients with glaucoma where other types of treatment have failed or would be of little use.
If you have healthy eyes the fluid in your eye (aqueous humour) flows through the pupil into the front of the eye. It then drains away through drainage channels. If you have glaucoma, the fluid in the eye cannot drain away properly.
This can result in a build up of pressure within the eye. This high pressure injures your optic nerve – the nerve that carries information from your eye to your brain – and damages your vision.
The Cyclodiode Laser is a highly concentrated beam of light, which can be used to target and treat a selected area. The aim of the laser therapy is to lower the pressure in the eye, by reducing the production of fluid within the eye. The reduced production of fluid causes the eye pressure to fall.
This laser procedure works like turning down the ‘tap’ inside the eye. As a procedure it is useful in acute glaucoma condition when there is a sudden high pressure, e.g. acute angle closure attack. This procedure sometimes can cause excessive inflammation inside the eye and occasionally can cause chronic low pressure in the eyes, therefore this is not normally used for routine glaucoma conditions.
Cyclophotocoagulation is like the cyclodiode laser but instead of applying the laser from outside the eye, this is applied from inside the eyes with an endoscope. This procedure usually combined with cataract operation that the laser probe is inserted inside the eye to deliver the laser energy to burn off the ciliary body epithelium in order to reduce the amount of water production inside the eye. Also, this procedure can cause excessive inflammation but less likely to cause chroinic low pressure problems.