To examine the efficacy of laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) in subjects diagnosed as primary angle closure suspects (PACS) DESIGN: Prospective, randomized controlled trial PARTICIPANTS: This multi-center, randomized controlled trial (NCT00347178, Clinical trials.gov) enrolled 480 subjects over the age of 50 years from glaucoma clinics in Singapore with bilateral asymptomatic PACS (defined as having ≥2 quadrants of appositional angle closure on gonioscopy).
Each subject underwent prophylactic LPI in one randomly selected eye, while the fellow eye served as control. Subjects were followed up yearly for 5 years.
The primary outcome measure was development of primary angle closure (PAC, defined as presence of peripheral anterior synechiae, and/or intraocular pressure>21 mmHg or acute angle closure [AAC]) or PACG over 5 years.
Of the 480 randomized subjects, the majority were Chinese (92.7%) and female (75.8%) with mean age of 62.8±6.9 years. LPI-treated eyes reached endpoint less frequently after five years (24, 5.0%, incidence rate [IR]=11.65 per 1000 eye-years) compared to control eyes (45, 9.4%, IR=21.84 per 1000 eye-years, p=0.001). The adjusted hazards ratio (HR) for progression to PAC was 0.55 (95%CI: 0.37-0.83, p=0.004) in LPI-treated eyes compared to control eyes. Older subjects (per year, HR=1.06, 95%CI: 1.03-1.10, p<0.001) and eyes with higher baseline IOP (per mm Hg, HR=1.35, 95%CI: 1.22-1.50, p<0.0001) were more likely to reach an endpoint. The number needed to treat in order to prevent an endpoint was 22 (95%CI: 12.8-57.5).
In subjects with bilateral asymptomatic PACS, eyes that underwent prophylactic LPI had significantly fewer endpoints compared to control eyes over 5 years. However, the overall incidence of PAC or PACG was low.

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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