title: Low diastolic blood pressure is associated with the progression of normal-tension glaucoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to investigate the association between blood pressure (BP) and visual field defect progression in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG).
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 35 consecutive patients with NTG who were admitted to Keio University Hospital for 24-hour intraocular pressure evaluation; all subjects underwent 6 or more visual field tests in either eye and were followed up for more than 5 years. Systolic and diastolic BPs were measured at 9.00 h. Subjects with negative regression lines and p values of less than 0.05 were classified as progressive; all others were defined as stable. Systolic BP, diastolic BP, and ocular perfusion pressure were compared between the 2 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve subjects showed progression in glaucomatous visual field defects (age 55.1 ± 15.1 years). Twenty-three subjects showed no progression (age 57.2 ± 10.9 years). Diastolic BP (stable group: 77.0 ± 12.1 mm Hg; progressive group: 67.7 ± 9.7 mm Hg; p = 0.03) was significantly lower in the progressive group than in the stable group. Multivariable analysis revealed that low diastolic BP is a significant risk factor for progression (OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.82-0.99).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low diastolic BP was associated with glaucomatous visual field progression in subjects with NTG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okumura
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yuki
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsubota
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D003971:Diastole; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006068:Gonioscopy; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D057066:Low Tension Glaucoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult