Exfoliative glaucoma and primary open-angle glaucoma: associations with death causes and comorbidity.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether type of glaucoma or use of acetazolamide are associated with main cause of death and comorbidity.


METHODS
The survival data, including date and cause of death, for 1147 patients with capsular or simple glaucoma who were ultimately hospitalized at the Eye Department, National Hospital, Oslo, between 1961 and 1970, were analysed. Binary logistic regression was carried out to investigate the patterns of death causes and comorbidity in subgroup analyses.


RESULTS
Patients with exfoliative glaucoma (XFG) and those with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) showed no significant differences in rates of death caused by acute cerebrovascular diseases, cardiac diseases and cancer. Interestingly, we found that chronic cerebral diseases such as senile dementia, cerebral atrophy and chronic cerebral ischaemia (n = 81) were more common in patients with XFG than in those with POAG (p = 0.01) and in the group of acetazolamide users (p = 0.03). Patients with XFG had a higher probability of developing an acute cerebrovascular disease than patients with POAG (n = 228, p = 0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
In this retrospective study, we found that comorbidity with acute cerebrovascular disease and chronic cerebral diseases (senile dementia, cerebral atrophy and chronic cerebral ischaemia) were more common in patients with XFG than in patients with POAG. Prospective data are needed in order to conclude upon the associations found in this study.
Eye Department, Alesund Hospital, Alesund, Norway. jon-staale.ritland@c2i.net
J S
JS
Ritland
K
K
Egge
S
S
Lydersen
R
R
Juul
S O
SO
Semb
D000086:Acetazolamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002257:Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002423:Cause of Death; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000401:mortality; D015897:Comorbidity; D017889:Exfoliation Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate
D002257:Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors; D000086:Acetazolamide