Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECP) in the treatment of refractory glaucomas. Methods: The preoperative and postoperative courses of 539 eyes of 539 patients with refractory glaucoma who underwent ECP and had a minimum 5 years follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. All procedures were performed by a single surgeon (FEL). Eyes that were included had undergone at least one incisional glaucoma surgery and had intraocular pressure (IOP) equal to

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... r above 35 mmHg on maximum tolerated medical therapy, and a visual acuity better than light perception. Success was defined as IOP greater than 6 mmHg and lower than 22 mmHg after 5 years postoperatively, with or without topical anti-hypertensive therapy. ECP included 210° of the ciliary body, corresponding to 2 to 9 hours in the right eye and from 3 to 10 hours in the left eye, including the anterior third of the pars plana. Results: The mean follow-up was 88.9 + 10.3 months (range 60 to 108 months). Mean preoperative IOP was 38.1 ± 6.5 mmHg, and postoperative IOP was 12.1 ± 3.4 mmHg, with or without topical antiglaucomatous medication (p<0.05). The mean number of glaucoma medications used by each patient was reduced from 3.9 + 1.2 preoperatively to 1.9 + 1.4 postoperatively (p< 0.05). Best corrected visual acuity was stable or improved postoperatively in 407 eyes (95.3%) while 20 eyes (4.7%) lost 2 or more lines of Snellen acuity. The success rate at 12 and 60 months were, 92.5% and 79% respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed an overall probability of success at 60 months of 71.5%. Complications included fibrin exudation in 116 eyes (21.5%), hyphema in 58 eyes (10.7%), choroidal detachment in 31 eyes (5.7%), phthisis in 13 eyes (2.4%), retinal detachment in 8 eyes (1.4%) and hypotony in 7 eyes (1.2%).Conclusion: These results suggest that ECP is a safe and effective therapeutic modality for refractory glaucomas after a long-term follow-up.