To appreciate the current place of argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) in the therapeutic armamentarium of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the first 211 photocoagulated phakic eyes were analysed. 159 eyes had a 5 year-follow-up, 147 eyes had a 8 year-follow-up and 127 eyes had a minimal 10 year-follow-up. These eyes corresponded to an initial group of 151 patients: 76 women and 75 men with a mean age of 66 years. We decided, arbitrarily, to assess trabeculoplasty results according to three combined criteria of failure (insufficient or transient intraocular pressure drop (< or = 3 mmHg), progression of visual field loss and need of filtrating surgery) and to various expected goals: prevent an increase of drugs with their subsequent side effects, taper a non tolerated medical treatment and, lastly, try to cease all medical treatment in non compliant patients. According to those criteria, during the first five years, the cumulative failure rate in the 159 eyes rose steadily from 19% (31 eyes) in the first year to 52% (82 eyes) in the fifth year. In the 147 eyes with a 8 year-follow-up 25 eyes (17%), and in the 127 eyes with a 10 year-follow-up 14 eyes (11%) were still controlled. At the 10 year-follow-up, the surgical failure rate was 35% (40 eyes in 113), quite similar to the rate at 5 years: 33% (27 in 82). Thirty eyes excluded in the study belonged to patients who died during the follow-up.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)