Purpose: Comparison of the effect of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in glaucoma patients with high and low central corneal thickness (CCT).
Materials and methods: Clinical trial on 72 glaucoma patients, controlled on medication that received SLT as replacement therapy. We compared the effect of SLT on patients with CCT ≥ 550 μm with patients having CCT <550 μm. Primary end point was intraocular pressure and number of medications taken. Measures were made at 1 h, 1 week, 1 month, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months after SLT.
Results: Mean IOP reduction after SLT was comparable between the low and the high CCT group at most time points (p>0.05); only at 18 months after SLT, the low CCT group showed less IOP reduction compared to the high CCT group (p=0.04). The mean number of medications showed no significant differences between the high and the low CCT group at any point in time. In both groups, the mean number of medications lowered significantly; from 1.43 to 0.17 medications in the high CCT group and from 1.55 to 0.33 in the low CCT group.
Conclusion: CCT does not influence the outcome of SLT in terms of mean IOP reduction and number of medications needed.