Corneal endothelial changes after argon-laser iridotomy and panretinal photocoagulation.

We performed argon-laser peripheral iridotomies on the right eyes of eight cynomolgus monkeys and administered panretinal scatter photocoagulation to the left eyes of the same monkeys. Both eyes of each monkey were photographed and studied with a slit lamp, pachymetry, and direct and indirect specular microscopy. After follow-up periods of 0 to 31 days, the monkeys were killed and the enucleated eyes studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Scanning microscopy were deposits showed that the changes observed by specular microscopy were deposits on the endothelium. Only minimal damage occurred and there were no significant changes in endothelial cell density after either treatment.