Many Japanese-American patients in large clinic population had normal-tension glaucoma

Arch Ophthalmol. 2009;127(2):167-171.

More than half of all glaucoma subtype cases in a large Japanese-American clinic population were normal-tension glaucoma, a rate four times higher than high-tension glaucoma cases, a study found.

The study looked at 1,732 patients, 112 of whom had glaucoma; 70% of patients of Japanese descent with glaucoma had normal-tension glaucoma, and 17% had high-tension glaucoma. Two patients had primary angle-closure glaucoma, three patients had mixed-mechanism disease, and 10 had secondary glaucoma.

"A prospective population-based study may be warranted to further define the spectrum of glaucoma and the reason for the high proportion of [normal-tension glaucoma] in this population," the study authors said.

The study was retrospectively conducted at two private ophthalmology clinics, with results obtained from the medical records of patients of Japanese descent in a 10-year span. Glaucoma diagnosis was made from optic nerve findings and visual field defects. The study's main outcome measures focused on glaucoma subtypes, examining distribution and characteristics.

Clinicians also found that when controlling for age, visual acuity and IOP "remained significantly correlated with glaucoma."