Normal-Tension Glaucoma Treatment Options Explored

Study suggests treatments other than intraocular pressure-lowering agents should be considered

THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Untreated intraocular pressure and zone β variables of peripapillary atrophy may serve as risk factors for normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) in young individuals with moderate to severe vision loss, according to a study in the October issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Sung Chul Park, M.D., of Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues examined the eyes of 93 patients with unilateral NTG and divided the patients by age and visual field standard deviation of the eye with glaucoma. Groups I and II included patients aged 50 years and above with a deviation of up to 8 dB or more than 8 dB, respectively. Subjects in groups III and IV were under the age of 50 years with a deviation of up to 8 dB or more than 8 dB, respectively.

When the researchers looked at the intraocular pressure and zone β variables, they found that there was a significant difference between the eyes with glaucoma and the normal eyes. The differences were in intraocular pressure in group I, in zone β pressure in group II, and in both intraocular pressure and zone β variables in groups III and IV.

"Therefore, treatment strategies other than intraocular pressure-lowering medications should be considered for young patients having NTG with moderate to severe visual field loss," the authors write. "Further studies on the significance of zone β of peripapillary atrophy in the pathogenesis of NTG are needed."

Abstract
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