title: Glaucoma and clinical characteristics in Vietnamese Americans.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the proportions of glaucoma types and clinical characteristics in Vietnamese Americans in a single-center, retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical charts of Vietnamese-American patients who visited a single private practice in Northern California from 1998-2007 were reviewed. The main outcome measures included the distribution and characteristics of glaucoma types, and clinical parameters associated with the presence of various glaucomas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 2247 patients aged 18-98 years were reviewed. Glaucoma was determined for 305 patients (13.6%). Among this group, 54.8% had primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), 26.9% had primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG), 13.4% had mixed mechanism glaucoma (MMG), and 4.9% had secondary glaucoma. In the MMG group (41 patients), 27 patients who initially had open angles developed narrow angles and underwent laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) with a mean follow up of 6.4 years from the time of iridotomy. The other 13 patients had glaucoma progression with open angles after LPI. One POAG patient had neovascular glaucoma due to retinal vein occlusion several years later. Compared to the PACG group, the MMG group had significantly lower baseline intraocular pressure (25.0 vs. 20.2 mmHg, p = 0.007) but with no difference in biometry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  POAG is the major type of glaucoma in this clinic-based Vietnamese population. However, Vietnamese appear to have a relatively higher proportion of PACG than Caucasians and those of African descent. It is recommended that gonioscopy be part of the regular eye check-up for adult Vietnamese patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California 94143-0730, USA.
authors.forename: Pai-Huei
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manivanh
authors.forename: Ngoc
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Robert N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Weinreb
authors.forename: Shan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D015812:Glaucoma, Angle-Closure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000601:surgery; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000601:surgery; D006068:Gonioscopy; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D032801:Iridectomy; D007498:Iris / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult