What type of laser is used to clear a cloudy lens?
Dr. Rick Wilson: A Nd:YAG laser is used to open a cloudy “secondary cataract,” a clouding of the capsule behind the intraocular lens. P: What complications could occur when a patient with uveitis who has had a trabeculectomy has that procedure? Dr. Rick Wilson: Clouding would be much more common in a patient with uveitis. Because of the extra inflammation in the eye, swelling in the back of the eye can occur. P: Are there more or fewer complications with laser trabeculotomies or with surgical trabeculectomies? Dr. Rick Wilson: Complications following trabeculotomy are fewer and usually less severe, although I have also seen corneas lost and flat chambers from lasers. P: What causes the loss of the corneas? Dr. Rick Wilson: If too much energy, especially in the form of heat, is released in the anterior chamber, it can cook the lining of the cornea, causing the cornea to turn white. P: What would cause the chamber to flatten? Dr. Rick Wilson: If a laser panretinal photocoagulation for di
