A high prevalence of occludable angles in a Vietnamese population.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of occludable angles in a Vietnamese population.


METHODS
The authors retrospectively reviewed the angle status in 482 Vietnamese patients who presented to a general ophthalmology practice. All angles were graded by a glaucoma specialist according to the Shaffer method. Patients were excluded if they had known glaucoma or narrow angles, or a history of trauma or intraocular surgery.


RESULTS
A total of 29.5% of all patients surveyed and 47.8% of those 55 years of age or older had grade 0 to 2 angles. In the Framingham study, 3.8% of white patients 55 years of age or older had grade 0 to 2 angles. Of the patients in our study population, 8.5% had grade 0 to 1 angles and were considered at high risk for occlusion.


CONCLUSIONS
Vietnamese patients have a much higher prevalence of narrow angles and a greater risk of angle-closure glaucoma than white patients.
Nguyen
N
N
Glaucoma Research and Education Group, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA.
Mora
J S
JS
Gaffney
M M
MM
Ma
A S
AS
Wong
P C
PC
Iwach
A G
AG
Tran
H
H
Dickens
C J
CJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000869:Anterior Eye Segment / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D015812:Glaucoma, Angle-Closure / Q000145:classification / Q000208:ethnology*; D006068:Gonioscopy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012495:San Francisco / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology