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Prevalences of angle-closure, secondary glaucoma similar in Japanese population
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The prevalences of primary angle-closure glaucoma and secondary glaucoma in a Japanese population are similar, according to a population-based study.
Tetsuya Yamamoto, MD, PhD, and colleagues examined a random sample of residents of Tajimi, Japan, who were at least 40 years old to determine the prevalence of primary angle-closure glaucoma, secondary glaucoma and all glaucoma. A total of 3,021 residents participated in the study.
Each participant underwent a full ophthalmic exam. If glaucoma was suspected, the participant was referred for a definitive exam that included slit-lamp examination, gonioscopy, IOP measurement, a visual field test and optic disc and fundus exam. Diagnoses of primary angle-closure or secondary glaucoma were made based on slit-lamp exam, gonioscopy, optic disc appearance and perimetric results.
The estimated prevalence of primary angle-closure glaucoma in people more than 40 years old was 0.6%; for secondary glaucoma, the prevalence was 0.5%. The prevalence rate for all glaucoma was 5%, and for glaucoma and suspected glaucoma was 7.5%.
The authors noted that exfoliation glaucoma was the principal contributor to the prevalence of secondary glaucoma. Because the detection method in this study included observing only the pupillary margin and lens surface through undilated pupils, the prevalence may have been underestimated, the authors said.
“We also found that uveitic glaucoma is a common type of secondary glaucoma, and we confirmed that pigmentary glaucoma is rarely seen in Japan,” the authors said in a report on the study published in the October issue of Ophthalmology.
The study also found a high prevalence of normal-tension glaucoma in the population studied, the authors said. They called this high prevalence “the most distinctive feature of glaucoma epidemiology in Japanese.”