This paper presents the results of peripheral iridectomy with scleral cautery on 72 eyes of 60 patients with various types of glaucoma. Thirty-seven of the eyes in this series were previously reported1; 42 had been reported in the original paper, but 5 have been lost to follow-up. All patients have been examined within 8 months of the writing of this paper. The follow-up period is from 2 months to 4 years. Results for 58 of the eyes have been followed for longer than a year.
The operation, as described by Scheie,2 consists essentially of making a wide limbus-based flap, the application of thermal cautery to the area of sclera to be incised, a scratch incision over the root of the iris into the anterior chamber, reapplication of the cautery to cause retraction of the wound edges, and a peripheral iridectomy. When the iris does not prolapse spontaneously or