Recurrent disc hemorrhage does not increase the rate of visual field progression.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether recurrent disc hemorrhage (DH) accelerates glaucomatous visual field (VF) loss compared to an isolated, single, detected DH.


METHODS
We evaluated the disc photographs of consecutive patients with >/=5 SITA-Standard fields for DH. Group A had patients with a single DH in one eye, and group B had at least one recurrence in the same eye. Automated pointwise linear regression analysis was used to calculate rates of progression. Logistic regression was used to determine ocular or systemic variables associated with DH recurrence after baseline assessment.


RESULTS
One hundred and seventeen patients were enrolled (group A = 72, group B = 45). The mean age was 67.1 +/- 10.8 years; most patients were women (65%) of European ancestry (92%) diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma (47%). The mean number of VF after the initial DH was 7.9 +/- 2.9, spanning a mean of 4.6 +/- 2.2 years. None of the ocular or systemic characteristics revealed a significant difference between groups. The mean global rate of progression (group A, -0.8 +/- 0.6 vs group B, -0.8 +/- 0.7 dB/year, p = 0.93) and number of eyes reaching a progression endpoint (group A, 70% vs group B, 73%, p = 0.80) did not differ between groups. Recurrent DH eyes showed a tendency to be followed longer, with a greater number of disc photographs, which was not significant in the multivariate analysis. The global rates of progression between groups remained non-significant even after adjusting to follow-up time and number of VF tests (p = 0.69).


CONCLUSIONS
Recurrent DH does not result in a faster rate of VF progression compared to a single detected DH. Eyes with single or recurrent DH have similar risks for future disease progression.
de Beaufort
Heather C
HC
Ophthalmology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. heatherdebeaufort@gmail.com
De Moraes
Carlos Gustavo V
CG
Teng
Christopher C
CC
Prata
Tiago S
TS
Tello
Celso
C
Ritch
Robert
R
Liebmann
Jeffrey M
JM
D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D057066:Low Tension Glaucoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009898:Optic Disk; D010781:Photography; D012008:Recurrence; D012166:Retinal Hemorrhage / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields