Association between glaucoma and smoking in an eye bank sample

Abstract

Introduction: Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Although smoking has an important vascular and oxidative role in cardiovascular diseases, the association of smoking with the development and evolution of glaucoma is still controversial. In this study, we aimed to correlate smoking with the incidence of glaucoma. Subjects and Methods: A retrospective study of 442 postmortem paired donor eyes obtained from the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank of Canada (Toronto, Ont.) between 2015 and 2019 was evaluated. All donors' eyes were collected with detailed clinical history, including the glaucoma diagnosis, gender, and smoking habits. A statistical analysis and correlation between these variables were performed. Results: No correlation was found between glaucoma and smoking when the total number of smokers of both genders were examined (P = 0.258). However, male patients demonstrated a significant positive correlation (P = 0.008). This correlation was not observed when only female patients were evaluated (P = 0.077). In addition, the eyes of patients, between 70 and 75 years of age (P = 0.04) and 76 and 80 years of age who were smokers, demonstrated an increased risk of glaucoma (P = 0.027). This relationship was even stronger for males between 76 and 80 years of age (P = 0.006). Interestingly, the duration of the smoking habit showed no correlation to the development of glaucoma. Conclusion: An association of smoking and glaucoma was found in patients between 70 and 80 years of age, particularly male patients. Further investigation will be conducted examining the histopathological features and other comorbidities to better elucidate these findings.

Keywords

• glaucoma
• human specimens
• smoking