Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: First, to evaluate the ratio of sisters and brothers with glaucoma (GL) or ocular hypertension (OH) to the total number of sisters and brothers in patients with all types of glaucoma, and second, to assess the ratio of daughters and sons affected with glaucoma or OH to the total number of daughters and sons in patients with all types of glaucoma. Method:By means of a questionnaire, 2170 GL patients were interviewed about the disease status of their relatives. Of these, 826 had one or more sister and 735 had one or more brother. 976 patients had one or more daughter and 962 patients had one or more son. Result:In 196/826 (24%) patients with sisters more than 17 % of all sisters have GL or OH (ratio of affected sisters to the total number of sisters > 0.17). In 143/735 (19 %) patients with brothers more than 17 % of all brothers have GL or OH (ratio of affected brothers to the total number of brothers > 0.17). In 53/976 (5.4 %) patients with daughters more than 33 % of all daughters have GL or OH (ratio of affected daughters to the total number of daughters > 0.33). In 47/962 (4.9 %) patients with sons more than 33 % of all sons have GL or OH (ratio of affected sons to the total number of sons > 0.33). Conclusion:1. In 24 % (sisters) or 19 % (brothers) of GL patients the ratio of siblings with GL or OH is higher than the glaucoma incidence in the healthy population. In 76 % (sisters) or 81 % (brothers) of cases the ratio of glaucoma affected siblings is not higher than the glaucoma incidence in the healthy population. In only 5.4 % (daughters) or 4.9 % (sons) of glaucoma patients the ratio of children with GL or OH is higher than the glaucoma incidence in the healthy population. From these data we conclude that a glaucoma screening, especially in siblings of glaucoma patients, is highly recommended as it offers a much higher probability to identify glaucoma cases compared to screenings in the general population.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • genetics