The Refractive Error of Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome in Iceland and Japan

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: To investigate the refractive error in cases with pseudoexfoliation (PEX).syndrome .Methods: Among the 846 subjects who participated in the Reykjavik Eye Study (RES) and the 1490 subjects who participated in the Monzen Eye Study (MES), 1446 eyes of 805 cases (68.3±8.5 yrs.) from RES and 2747 eyes of 1461 cases (66.2±8.0 yrs.) from MES were selected as subjects for this study. Eyes with pseudophakia and aphakia were excluded. All the RES subjects were Caucasian and MES subjects Japanese. Refractive error was evaluated with spherical equivalent using an autorefractmeter. The eyes were divided into four groups according to spherical equivalent as follows; High myopia≤–6D, –6D<myopia<–2, within±2D (emmetropia), +2D<hyperopia. For data analysis, Cochran–Armitage test for trend was used. Results: Prevalence of PEX was 7.6% in RES and 2.6% in MES. The average refractive error of PEX and non–PEX was +1.20±1.92D and +1.26±2.17D in RES and +0.68±1.30D and +0.44±1.86D in MES, respectively. There were no significant differences. The rates of high myopia, myopia, emmetropia and hyperopia in eyes with PEX and non–PEX were 0, 4.5, 59.8, 35.7% and 0.6, 6.5, 62.7, 30.3% in RES and 0, 1.4, 84.3, 14.3% and 1.4, 4.9, 80.5, 13.2% in MES. The prevalence of PEX was lower in myopic eyes with high myopia, myopia, emmetropia and hyperopia 0, 5.2, 7.2, 9.2% (p=0.07) in RES and 0, 0.8, 2.7, 2.8% (P=0.20) in MES, respectively. In eyes with PEX, there were no eyes with myopia < –4D in either RES or MES. Conclusions: Although the number of PEX subjects was too small to show any statistical significance, PEX might be rare in eyes with myopia and high myopia in the general populations of Iceland and Japan.

Keywords: refraction • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • myopia