Aqueous Flare And Intraocular Pressure In The Early Period Following Panretinal Photocoagulation In Patient With Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

To investigate the effect of panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) on aqueous flare and intraocular pressure (IOP) in the early period.

University of Health Sciences, Beyoglu Eye Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.

Eighty eight eyes of 44 patients were included in the study. The patients underwent a full ophthalmologic examination including the best corrected visual acuity,  IOP measured by Goldmann applanation tonometry, biomicroscopy and dilated fundus examination before PRP. Aqueous flare values were measured with the laser flare meter (FC-700, Kowa Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan). Aqueous flare and intraocular pressure values were repeated in both eyes at the 1st and 24th hours after PRP. The eyes of the patients who underwent PRP were included in the study as the study group, and the other eyes as the control group. 

In eyes treated with PRP, 1st hour (19.44 pc/ms) and 24th hour (18.53 pc/ms) aqueous flare values were statistically higher than before PRP (16.66 pc/ms) ( p<0.05). In the study eyes which were similar to the control eyes before PRP, the aqueous flare were higher at the 1st and 24th hours after PRP compared to control eyes. (p<0.05). The mean IOP at the 1st hour (18.69 mmHg) after PRP in study eyes was higher than both pre-PRP (16.25 mmHg) and post-PRP 24th hour (16.12 mmHg) IOP values (p <0.001). At the same time, the IOP value at the 1st hour after PRP was higher than the control eyes (p=0.001). No correlation was observed between aqueous flare and IOP values. 

An increase in aqueous flare and IOP values were observed after PRP. Besides, the increase in both values starts even in the 1st hour and the values at 1st hour are the highest values. At the 24th hour, while IOP values return to baseline, aqueous flare values are still high. In patients who may develop severe intraocular inflammation or can not tolerate increased IOP (such as previous uveitis, neovascular glaucoma, severe glaucoma), control should be performed at the 1st hour after PRP to prevent irreversible complications.