The “drops first, everything else later” era is coming to an end. Dr Mark Chiang (Australia) shares his laser-first approach to glaucoma management: SLT to match first-line drop efficacy without the burden of daily medication, SubCyclo for patients who fail or cannot tolerate earlier treatments, and stents for the right surgical candidates.
The “drops first, everything else later” approach to glaucoma is being challenged. In this video, Prof. Gus Gazzard shares six-year LiGHT data showing that first-line SLT kept most eyes at target intraocular pressure without long-term drops, reduced the need for trabeculectomy, and delivered better visual field preservation compared with a drops-first approach.
Summary of the 3- and 6-year study results of the LiGHT study.
Discover our podcast produced for World Glaucoma Week 2025 in which Professor Mario de La Torre presents the diagnostic and therapeutic management of a 65-year-old male patient with Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma and Dry Eye Syndrome. He was treated with Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) for long-term IOP control and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) therapy to restore ocular surface health. This combined approach improved both glaucoma management and patient comfort.
In this interview, Prof. Gus Gazzard explains how SLT can be the first-line therapy for all open angle, glaucoma and ocular hypertension.
In this video, Prof. Gus GAZZARD , explains how to overcome barriers to SLT as first line therapy for POAG & OH. This video is from our symposium held at ESCRS 2023.
The glaucoma surgical landscape is evolving and changing dramatically as we move forward in the era of interventional glaucoma. The interventional glaucoma mindset represents a significant paradigm shift in patient care, taking the treatment burden out of the patient’s hands and placing more emphasis on earlier laser intervention.
Glaucoma is a lifelong disease that requires continual monitoring and management. For many patients, glaucoma can be controlled medically—at least for a time—but the treatment is far from perfect. Complications, side effects, and compliance are common issues for those who rely on eye drops to control IOP. Other barriers to medical treatment include nonresponse to a medication, tachyphylaxis, and financial burden.
In this interview, Inder Paul Singh, MD, explains the interest of using SLT as first line therapy for glaucoma instead of medication and the impact on the ocular surface.
“SLT not only takes away the compliance issues that are so difficult for us but it actually addresses the pathology directly.”
Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) has come a long way in the last few years. The practice is gaining adherents as a first-line treatment for open-angle glaucoma for multiple reasons. And to give SLT a boost and provide an uber-coherent overview of the reasons in favor of SLT, Dr. Paul Singh spoke on its behalf at ESCRS 2022 in Milan.
