This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Preperimetric glaucoma not associated with loss in quality of life
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with preperimetric glaucoma did not show significant decline in patient-reported quality of life outcomes compared with healthy subjects.
“Prevention of disability from glaucoma may benefit from early diagnosis during a ‘window of opportunity’ given by detecting structural loss before field damage,” according to researchers.
The cross-sectional study included 45 patients with preperimetric glaucoma, 102 patients with perimetric glaucoma and 81 healthy controls.
Researchers used the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) to define patient-reported quality of life.
Patients with preperimetric glaucoma had significantly thinner average retinal nerve fiber layer in the better eye compared with controls.
Researchers found no significant difference in NEI VFQ-25 scores between the preperimetric and control groups. There was a statistically significant difference in NEI VFQ-25 scores between patients with perimetric glaucoma and controls.
As previous research has suggested, “relatively early glaucomatous visual field losses may already be associated with disability if occurring in the better eye of the patient,” researchers wrote.
In contrast to those with perimetric damage, preperimetric glaucoma does not seem to be associated with loss in quality of life, researchers wrote. – by Abigail Sutton
Disclosures: Daga reported no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for all remaining authors’ financial disclosures.
Perspective
Back to Top
Carl H. Jacobsen, OD, FAAO
There’s no question that glaucoma affects our patient’s quality of life. The more advanced the disease, the more profound the affect. What about glaucoma patients who have yet to lose vision? Daga and colleagues found that preperimetric glaucoma is not associated with a decreased QoL. Clearly, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment will help minimize glaucoma’s life-altering effects. Here are a few tips to making an early diagnosis:
—Understand that glaucoma can affect patients of any age, race or sex;
—Remember that most patients with glaucoma have normal IOP on initial visits;
—Practice gonioscopy daily; angle closure is more common that you think;
—Look carefully for secondary glaucoma signs; they can be elusive; and
—Hone your ability to accurately analyze the disc through the use of disc photos.
What did I leave off the list? Oh yeah, SD-OCT. While certainly a valuable test, I have yet to see a patient who is blind because they didn’t get an OCT. The tricky part is knowing when you need this test. By honing your clinical knowledge and skill, you will be astute at catching glaucoma at its earliest stage and this, in turn, will help minimize glaucoma’s effects on your patients.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts