Abstract
Purpose :
The objective of this study was to investigate a possible association between optic disc haemorrhage (ODH) and blood pressure parameters and the occurrence of vascular symptoms such as vertigo, a tendency to collapse, tinnitus, cold extremities, migraine and headaches in patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and high tension glaucoma (HTG).
Methods :
113 patients with NTG and 148 patients with HTG were investigated. Each participant had a complete glaucoma workup as well as 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. The patients also completed a standardised questionnaire relating to the occurrence of vertigo, a tendency to collapse, tinnitus, cold extremities, migraine and headaches. An association with the occurrence of an ODH was investigated with a contingency analysis and verified with the Chi2 test.
Results :
Out of the 113 NTG patients, 32 patients (28.3%) had an ODH in at least one eye, 81 patients (71.7%) had no ODH. In this group, an ODH was statistically significantly associated with symptoms of vertigo (P=0.004) and tinnitus (P=0.032), but not with blood pressure parameters (p=0.336), the tendency to collapse (p=0.528), cold extremities (p=0.952), migraine (p=0.388) and headaches (p=0.343). For HTG patients, ODH occurred in 15 % of cases and showed no statistically significant correlation with blood pressure parameters (p=0.102) nor for the mentioned vascular symptoms (vertigo: P=0.462, tinnitus: P=0.653, the tendency to collapse: p=0.283, cold extremities: p=0.722, migraine: p=0.245 and headaches: p=0.448).
Conclusions :
Vertigo and tinnitus seem to be associated with the occurrence of an ODH in NTG patients, but not in HTG patients. While migraine does not show an association with ODH, neither in NTG nor in HTG patients, as well as the blood pressure parameters, the tendency to collapse, cold extremities and headaches.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.