Angle-closure glaucoma

Multiple letterslink_to_subscribed_fulltex

Can we prevent angle-closure glaucoma?

PURPOSE: Glaucoma is the second cause, after cataract, of world blindness. Approximately half is thought to be primary angle-closure glaucoma (ACG). This review asks whether ACG can be prevented on a population basis. METHODS AND POPULATIONS: Review of published information from the Inuit of Greenland, Canada and Alaska, and descriptions of recent studies in Asian populations in Mongolia, China and South-East Asia. RESULTS: The Greenland Inuit have the shallowest anterior chamber depths (ACDs) so far recorded. The proportion of blindness due to ACG was reduced from 64% to 9% over 37 years by systematic optical measurement of central ACD and the van Herick test in the older Inuit, followed by gonioscopy and prophylactic iridectomy or laser iridotomy when indicated. In Mongolia, ultrasound measurement of central ACD had good sensitivity and specificity as a screening test. A randomized controlled trial of screening and prophylactic laser is being completed. In China and South-East Asia, the mechanism of angle closure appears to be more varied and complex and its detection may require more elaborate imaging. CONCLUSIONS: The mechanism of angle closure and potential for prevention by screening are likely to have to be determined specifically for each population at risk

Comorbidities in combined retinal artery and vein occlusions

BACKGROUND: Several general diseases cause blindness in patients with simultaneous combined retinal artery and vein occlusion. METHODS/PATIENTS: We examined 14 patients with acute unilateral visual loss due to combined retinal artery and venous occlusions. All 14 patients presented at the Polyclinic over a period of about 3 years. Fluorescein angiography was carried out in 12 patients to confirm the diagnosis. Ten patients underwent Doppler sonography and 11 echocardiography. RESULTS: Concerning systemic diseases, 11 of our 14 patients presented several cardiovascular risk factors, i.e., immunocytoma and arterial hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in one patient; another patient had chronic bronchitis, tachycardia and hypercholesterolemia. Six patients presented coagulation anomalies, and eight patients had arterial hypertension. Doppler sonography revealed normal carotid arteries in nine of ten patients. In 8 of 11 patients, echocardiography displayed no cardiac abnormalities. Ophthalmoscopy revealed no emboli in any of these patients. CONCLUSION: Unilateral simultaneous combined incomplete retinal artery and venous occlusions should be considered as one entity. Eleven of our patients presented comorbidities reflecting several cardiovascular risk factors. Immunological diseases, malignancies and coagulopathies can cause this ocular disorder, resulting in blindness. No emboli were found in any of these patients. Patients suffering from acute visual loss must be examined for the presence of systemic diseases to enable therapy at an early stage