title: Is symptomatic atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease a risk factor for normal-tension glaucoma?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the incidence of glaucomatous optic disk appearance between patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic stroke and healthy individuals with normal intraocular pressures (IOP).
  
  
  METHODS
  46 patients with ischemic stroke with evident lacunar infarction or large vessel atherosclerosis, and 93 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals, all with normal IOP, were included. Patients and controls were examined for the presence of high cup-to-disk ratios (> 0.5).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven patients (15.22%) in the ischemic cerebrovascular disease (CVD) group and 3 controls (3.23%) had glaucomatous optic disk appearance. All subjects with glaucomatous optic disk appearance in the control group and 3 patients in the study group had visual field defects in concordance with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). The incidence of glaucomatous optic disk appearance was significantly higher in the group with symptomatic atherosclerotic CVD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Atherosclerotic CVD is a risk factor for having glaucomatous optic disk appearance. Symptomatic atherosclerosis involving the brain vasculature may also affect the eye and lead to NTG. Patients with ischemic strokes due to large artery atherosclerosis or small artery occlusion must be examined and followed for NTG.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey. ligungor@omu.edu.tr
authors: Inci Ulu
authors: IU
authors: Güngör
authors: Levent
authors: L
authors: Güngör
authors: Yakup
authors: Y
authors: Ozarslan
authors: Nurşen
authors: N
authors: Arıtürk
authors: Umit
authors: U
authors: Beden
authors: Dilek
authors: D
authors: Erkan
authors: Musa Kazım
authors: MK
authors: Onar
authors: Ihsan
authors: I
authors: Oge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology