Response of the human eye to laser irradiation of the iris.

Irradiation of the iris of glaucoma patients with either a ruby or an argon laser caused no obvious disruption of the blood-aqueous barrier (as visualised by fluorescein angiography), in contrast to a sudden and pronounced effect in the rabbit eye. Only a low and variable increase in intraocular pressure occurred in the human subjects after the laser irradiation in comparison with a consistently high rise of ocular tension in the rabbit. This investigation indicates that the human eye is much less responsive to injury.