I would like to share some observations that I have made using the slit-lamp-adapted diode laser system (IRIS Medical Instruments Inc, Mountain View, Calif) for suture lysis following trabeculectomy with mitomycin. The diode laser beam, with a near-infrared wavelength of 810 nm, is not consistently absorbed by the black 10-0 nylon sutures in the scleral flap when visualized at the slit lamp with techniques that otherwise work well with argon laser, either through a Zeiss four-mirror goniolens1 or by the Hoskins suture lysis device.2 Even though the diode laser energy has been set to its maximum level for slit-lamp delivery (approximately 1 W for 0.1 to 0.2 seconds with a 75-μm beam), the sutures usually fail to break. In over a half-dozen patients we have successfully addressed this problem by the use of the Mandelkorn suture lysis lens (Ocular Instruments Inc, Bellevue, Wash), which increases the power density