Preservation of residual field after surgical lowering of intraocular pressure.

A 52-year-old Caucasian woman with pigmentary glaucoma underwent a left cyclodiathermy procedure for raised intraocular pressure (IOP) in 1962 and right sclerectomy the following year. Over 25 years later a low IOP was still maintained though pilocarpine was needed in the left eye. After a left cataract extraction with insertion of a posterior chamber lens, field loss had not progressed very much in either eye though the visual acuity was reduced in the more affected eye. Both drainage operation and a cyclodestructive procedure controlled IOP over a long period of time in this patient and were associated with only a very gradual progression of field loss.