Pseudoexfoliation risk associated with previously diagnosed open-angle glaucoma

Acta Ophthalmologica. 2008;86(7):741-746.

In patients without a previous diagnosis of open-angle glaucoma, pseudoexfoliation alone was not associated with the disease, but increased IOP was, according to a study.

The study authors examined the risk of open-angle glaucoma connected to pseudoexfoliation and increased IOP. They reviewed cases from a 1984 to 1986 cross-sectional, population-based survey conducted in Sweden.

The study's target population was 2,429 residents between the ages of 65 and 74 years. Open-angle glaucoma was determined in 77 cases, at a prevalence of 5.3%; of those cases, 23 were newly detected. Prevalence of pseudoexfoliation was 17.2%.

The study authors found that in adjusting for gender, pseudoexfoliation was associated with a 4.7-fold increased risk of open-angle glaucoma.

"For clinical cases only, the risk was 16-fold greater in subjects with [pseudoexfoliation], compared with those without [pseudoexfoliation]," the study authors said.

For patients without previous diagnosis of the disease, IOP higher than 20 mm Hg had a 9.7-fold increased risk; however, pseudoexfoliation alone was not found to be a risk factor for open-angle glaucoma.