Open angle glaucoma and non-central retinal vein occlusion--the chicken or the egg?
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether non-central retinal vein occlusion (nCRVO) or open angle glaucoma (OAG) is the primary event in eyes suffering from both diseases.


METHODS
The study has two parts. The first is a retrospective survey of a clinical glaucoma database. In eyes with OAG and nCRVO, the temporal relationship between the conditions was determined when possible. The second part is a ten-year follow-up study of eyes with isolated nCRVO.


RESULTS
Study 1: Among 576 OAG patients, 25 (4.3%) had nCRVO. In all eyes except one, OAG occurred before nCRVO. Almost without exception a vein on the optic disk or at the disk margin was occluded. Study 2: Most eyes with isolated nCRVO had an occluded vein at a retinal artery-vein crossing. Only one of 34 patients had developed OAG after ten years.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that OAG in most eyes is the primary event. nCRVO had different characteristics in eyes with OAG compared to eyes without OAG.
Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Göteborg University, Sweden. bertil.lindblom@oftalmologi.gu.se
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Lindblom
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology