Abstract
Purpose::
To evaluate in patients with Normal Tension Glaucoma (NTG), whether there is any association between the long term visual field prognosis and the number of relatives who suffer from glaucoma. Do patients with a high number of relatives with glaucoma show more frequently visual field deterioration (VFD) than patients with no or less relatives with glaucoma?
Methods::
Retrospective evaluation of the files of 184 patients with NTG who provided information on familiy history (FH) of glaucoma. Visual field loss (VFL) was staged in both eyes according to Aulhorn classification at the time of first and of last perimetry. Observation time was calculated for every patient. If there was a change in the stage of VFL in one or both eyes patients were classified as patients with VFD. All eyes had consistently an intraocular pressure equal or less than 21 mmHg on diurnal testing without medication and during the entire observation time with topical medication. Due to different perimeters during observation time the descriptive Aulhorn staging system had to be used to judge the VFD. For statistics Jonckheere-Terpstra test was used.
Results::
Out of 109 patients without FH of glaucoma 8 (7,3%) showed a VFD after a mean follow up time (MFT) of 5,8 +/-3,3 years. Out of 48 patients with one relative with glaucoma 8 (16,7%) showed a VFD (MFT: 7,8 +/- 4,3 years). Of 24 patients with two relatives with glaucoma 4 (16,7%) showed a VFD (MFT: 5,4 +/-4,9 years). The higher the number of relatives with glaucoma the higher the risk of VFD (p=0,034, Jonckheere-Terpstra Test, two-sided). The mean follow up time in the groups of patients with VFD was slightly higher than in the groups of patients with stable visual field.
Conclusions::
The results of this pilot study suggest, that the number of relatives with glaucoma is of significance to predict the visual field prognosis in NTG. Therefore a standardized documentation of FH performed by a questionnaire interview performed by the patient himself is essential for prospective confirmation of these results. This questionnaire was already tested in more than 2000 glaucoma patients and will be introduced in this poster.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • genetics • visual fields