Abstract
Purpose: :
To investigate any difference in clinical characteristics between Asian and Western normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients.
Methods: :
One hundred thirteen eyes of 113 Korean NTG patients and 103 eyes of 103 Western NTG patients were enrolled from Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and from Jules Stein Eye Institute (JSEI), respectively. The clinical characteristics between SNUH-Korean, JSEI-Asian, and JSEI-Western NTG patients were compared.
Results: :
No significant difference was found between the groups in mean deviation and pattern standard deviation based on Humphrey standard automated perimetry. There were no statistically significant differences in the baseline intraocular pressure, disc area, and the frequency of disc hemorrhage and peripapillary atrophy (P > 0.05). However, the cup shape measure by HRT, average RNFL thickness by Stratus OCT, and central corneal thickness were significantly different among the 3 groups (P < 0.002, one-way analysis of variance). The eyes of Korean NTGs showed lower cup shape measures, higher average RNFL thicknesses, and thinner central corneal thicknesses than Western NTGs. The difference was significant (p<0.001) even after multivariate analysis including age, sex, disc area, mean deviation, pattern standard deviation, and spherical equivalent as variables.
Conclusions: :
Korean NTG patients may have steeper cup shape, thicker RNFL and thinner central corneal thickness than western NTG patients. There may be a racial difference in susceptibility of optic nerve head to glaucomatous damage in normal pressure level.
Keywords: clinical research methodology • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • optic disc