Higher smoking intensity linked with reduced optic nerve vessel density in glaucoma
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Smoking intensity was linked with decreased optic nerve vessel density in patients with glaucoma, according to a study in Journal of Glaucoma.
Medi Eslani, MD, and colleagues wrote that there has been conflicting evidence on the relationship between smoking and glaucoma.
“It is not as well characterized as that between smoking and other ocular diseases, such as cataract and [age-related macular degeneration],” they wrote. “As the relationship between smoking and the risk of peripheral vascular disease has also been documented, it is possible that reduced optic disc blood flow in smokers contributes to further retinal nerve fiber injury in glaucoma eyes and susceptibility to progression.”
Data from 432 eyes included in the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study were analyzed to determine the effects of different variables on the superficial whole image capillary density. Out of the 271 subjects in the study, 105 (38.8%) had a history of tobacco consumption. The mean smoking intensity among smokers was 12.8 pack-years.
Each 10 pack-year increase in smoking intensity was significantly associated with –0.54% lower whole image capillary density (P = .041) after adjusting for age, glaucoma severity and other factors, the study said.
“Higher intensity of smoking was significantly associated with decreased [optic nerve head] microvasculature,” the authors wrote. “This supports the value of obtaining an accurate history of smoking and, particularly, the intensity as it may help in screening and monitoring glaucoma to stratify the patients with [open-angle glaucoma].”
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