MANIFEST GLAUCOMA IN THE AGED I: OCCURRENCE NINE YEARS AFTER A POPULATION SURVEY

Abstract

This study was based on already existing clinical data concerning 599 persons born before 1907, examined during a general ophthalmic survey 1969-1972 and still remaining in the same district in July 1980. At the survey 1969-1972, 19 out of 1057 persons had manifest glaucoma, 14 were already treated for ocular hypertension, 54 had an IOP [intraocular pressure] > 20.5 mmHg and 970 were considered normal. Immediately after the survey, 17 patients were treated for manifest glaucoma and 19 for ocular hypertension. During the following 9 yr treated persons were lost to a greater extent (64%) than untreated persons (43%). In July 1980 only 6 persons remained who were treated for manifest glaucoma since the survey, and 3 of them were socially blind. One out of 7 treated and 2 out of 28 untreated persons with ocular hypertension at the survey had developed visual field defects 9 yr later. Manifest glaucomas, often advanced cases, were also detected in 9 persons considered normal at the survey. Five out of 12 persons with manifest glaucoma detected after the survey had an IOP < 20.5 mmHg at detection. The visual capacity of persons still remaining in the district in 1980 was largely independent of all efforts to prevent blindness from glaucoma in the present population.