Ab interno and ab externo filtering operations by laser contact surgery.

A new method to create filtering tracts ab interno or ab externo which may eventually prove useful in eyes with poorly controlled glaucoma is described. Fiberoptics of 200 microns diameter, with either cleaved or 500 microns ball lens tips, were coupled to the output of an argon gas laser emitting a number of radiation lines in the ultraviolet (333 to 363 nm) wavelengths. This system was used to perforate the corneoscleral limbal tissue of enucleated bovine eyes with a small number of laser applications to create a filtering fistula. Corneoscleral limbal perforation with a 200 microns cleaved fiber required 0.6 to 1.1 J total energy, delivered with a laser power of 0.5 W, or greater, for 0.1 second. With a 500 microns ball lens fiber tip a tract of nearly 0.5 mm diameter was created, requiring 5.1 to 10.4 J total energy, delivered with a laser power of 2.0 W, or greater, for at least 0.1 second. The energy required for perforation from the external surface to the anterior chamber was the same as the energy required for ab interno perforation.