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Abstract #5213 Published in IGR 1-2
Optic disk appearances in primary open-angle glaucoma
Broadway DC; Nicolela MT; Drance SMSurvey of Ophthalmology 1999; 43 (S1): S223-S243
Primary open-angle glaucoma almost certainly develops in a multifactorial manner, with interplay between numerous risk factors affecting the disease. These risk factors, in addition to intraocular pressure, include a number of cardiovascular factors. Some of these factors may determine the appearance of the damage glaucomatous optic nerve head. Patients with four specific optic disk appearances have been investigated, and differences have been identified in their demographic characteristics, prevalence of certain risk factors, the pattern of visual field damage, and circulatory abnormalities in their retrobulbar vessels. These findings provide evidence of the existence of subgroups of primary open-angle glaucoma with correlations between risk factor and type of optic disk. A reliable method by which the different disk appearances could be distinguished in an objective manner would be clinically valuable, and the scanning laser ophthalmoscope has shown potential promise to achieve this. The results of studies relating to various glaucomatous optic disk appearances are presented and discussed.
D.C. Broadway, Department of Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Canada
Classification:
2.14 Optic disc (Part of: 2 Anatomical structures in glaucoma)
