High Incidence of Sympathetic Ophthalmia after Contact and Noncontact Neodymium:YAG Cyclotherapy

Background: Two cases of sympathetic ophthalmia occurring after noncontact neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) cyclotherapy have previously been reported. In each case, the patient had undergone filtering surgery in the exciting eye. Although in each case Nd:YAG cyclotherapy was the last surgery performed, the inciting event of sympathetic ophthalmia was unclear. Methods: The authors studied three additional patients who developed sympathetic ophthalmia after Nd:YAG cyclotherapy for glaucoma. Results: Two patients developed sympathetic ophthalmia 4 months after noncontact Nd:YAG cyclotherapy, and 1 patient developed sympathetic ophthalmia 18 months after contact Nd:YAG cyclotherapy. All patients had previous cataract extractions but no filtering surgery in the exciting eye. Clinical features included chronic iridocyclitis, choroidal folds, Dalen-Fuchs nodules, and optic disc edema. Combining these cases with the two previously reported cases, the incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia at our institution thus far is 5.8% (4 of 69) and 0.67% (1 of 150) after noncontact and contact Nd:YAG cyclotherapy, respectively. Conclusions: The incidence of sympathetic ophthalmia after Nd:YAG cyclotherapy is high compared with other ocular procedures. The clinician should vigilantly monitor patients after Nd:YAG cyclotherapy and report additional cases that may have occurred at other institutions.