This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Conjunctiva may aid in assessment of glaucoma-induced pathologic modifications
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Conjunctival microcysts were found in all hypertensive and glaucomatous eyes in a study, leading researchers to believe that the conjunctiva could be a potential target tissue for in vivo microscopic investigation of glaucoma-induced pathologic modifications.
Marco Ciancaglini, MD, and colleagues at the University of Chieti-Pescara used in vivo confocal microscopy to evaluate conjunctival epithelial characteristics, including mean cell density and the mean area of conjunctival epithelium microcysts, in 30 eyes with untreated ocular hypertension, 96 eyes receiving topical treatment for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 15 healthy control eyes.
In addition, the researchers evaluated the relationship between IOP and age in hypertensive and glaucomatous eyes. The mean defect of visual fields and therapy time were also assessed in glaucomatous eyes.
The investigators found no evidence of conjunctival microcysts in any of the healthy eyes; however, conjunctival microcysts were found in all eyes with ocular hypertension.
In these hypertensive eyes, microcyst density averaged 19.7 cysts/mm² and total microcyst area averaged 4,063.6 µm², the authors noted.
All eyes with POAG had conjunctival microcysts that averaged 28.7 cysts/mm² in density and 6,564.2 µm² in total microcyst area.
The investigators found no significant differences in microcyst parameters between eyes with ocular hypertension and POAG. In addition, no significant associations were found between either hypertensive or POAG eyes for microcyst density, area, IOP, mean defect of visual fields and the time of therapy, according to the study, published in the July issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.