Abstract
Purpose :
There were controversial results about associations between body mass index (BMI) and normal tension glaucoma (NTG). And there was no longitudinal study regarding association between BMI and visual field (VF) progression rate in NTG patients. We performed this study to evaluate the association between BMI and VF progression in NTG patients.
Methods :
We performed a retrospective, observational clinical study and reviewed medical records of 79 eyes of 79 NTG patients who were treated with eye drops more than 12 months. Age, sex, existence of hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM), refractive error, baseline intraocular pressure (IOP), IOP reduction ratio, baseline VF indices including mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD), VF progression rate (dB/year), number of eye drops, and BMI were analyzed. Progression of VF was determined by glaucoma change probability analysis (STATPAC 2) of Humphrey Field Analyzer.
Results :
Mean follow up duration in consecutive eyes was 4.5 ±2.825 years. Among 79 eyes, 18 eyes showed progression of VF defect (progression group) and 61 eyes did not (non-progression group). VF progression rate (p<0.001) and number of eye drops (p=0.039) showed statistical differences, and age, sex, existence of HTN and DM, refractive error, baseline IOP, IOP reduction ratio, baseline VF indices, and BMI did not show statistical differences between the two groups (all p > 0.05). However, lower BMI was statistically significantly associated with faster VF progression in progression group (multiple linear regression analysis, β=-0.083, S.E.=0.028, P=0.015).
Conclusions :
BMI does not seem to be the major risk factor for VF progression, but in vulnerable eyes, lower BMI may be one of contributing factor for VF loss progression in NTG patients.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.