Clinical Ophthalmology (Aug 2018)

Blood pressure, ocular perfusion pressure and open-angle glaucoma in patients with systemic hypertension

  • Cantor E,
  • Méndez F,
  • Rivera C,
  • Castillo A,
  • Martínez-Blanco A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 12
pp. 1511 – 1517

Abstract

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Erika Cantor,1 Fabián Méndez,2 Carlos Rivera,3 Andrés Castillo,4 Alexander Martínez-Blanco5 1Research Institute, Centro Médico Imbanaco, Cali, Colombia; 2School of Public Health, GESP Group, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia; 3Centro Medico Farallones, Fundación Oftalmológica del Valle, Cali, Colombia; 4Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia; 5Department of Ophtalmology, Universidad del Valle, Research Institute, Centro Médico Imbanaco, Cali, Colombia Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between blood pressure (BP), ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) and occurrence of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) among patients with systemic hypertension.Participants and methods: A cross-sectional study of hypertensive patients was conducted in six cities in Colombia. The participants underwent a complete ophthalmological examination. The intraocular pressure measurement was obtained by Goldmann tonometry. The diagnosis of glaucoma was confirmed by visual field and optic nerve photos. Interviews and questionnaires were used to evaluate participants’ lifestyle and other health conditions. A multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between BP, OPP and presence of suspected or confirmed POAG.Results: A total of 1,272 individuals were included in this study; 131 (10.3%) were diagnosed with suspected glaucoma and 65 (5.1%) with confirmed glaucoma. High values of diastolic BP (>90 mmHg) and low values of OPP (<40 mmHg) were associated to an increased risk of confirmed POAG. The type of antihypertensive treatment did not modify these relationships.Conclusion: This study suggests that there is a close relationship between OPP and confirmed glaucoma in hypertensive patients, providing further evidence of the vascular mechanism in glaucoma pathogenesis. Keywords: open angle-glaucoma, blood pressure, ocular perfusion pressure, hypertension, ocular blood flow

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