Lec.1: Epidemiology of Glaucoma

Question 1

refers to total number of instances of a given disease or other condition in a given population.

Answer 1

prevalence

Question 2

refers to the number of new cases of a disease?

Answer 2

incidence

Question 3

percentage of population with glaucoma?

Answer 3

3% (4x that are suspects)

Question 4

in regards to angles, will most cases be open or closed angle variety?

Answer 4

open

Question 5

what type of glaucoma requires the patient to have pressures of 21 mmHg or higher?

Answer 5

POAG

Question 6

how does ocular hypertension differ from POAG?

Answer 6

both have pressures greater than 21 mmHg but you cannot identify damage to the ON or VF using standard techniques in ocular hypertension

Question 7

what is the prevalence of POAG in caucasian population?

Answer 7

2%

Question 8

what is the prevelence of POAG in African Americans?

Answer 8

4x the amount in caucasians (about 8%)

Question 9

is it true that the prevalence of ocular hypertension is much greater in caucasians than POAG?

Answer 9

yes

Question 10

which population is most likely to get an angle closure glaucoma?

Answer 10

chinese

Question 11

based on refractive error, who is more at risk of having an angle closure?

Answer 11

hyperopes

Question 12

what exactly causes glaucoma?

Answer 12

we dont know. best we can do is come up with a list or risk factors

Question 13

due to higher prevalence of POAG, at what age would you notice an increase of POAG in african americans?

Answer 13

35 yrs

Question 14

what is the glaucoma triad?

Answer 14

ON damage, VF deficit and elevated IOP

Question 15

what pressure indicates an 80% chance that the patient has POAG?

Answer 15

30 mmHg

Question 16

what IOP indicates a 70% chance that the patient has POAG?

Answer 16

26 mmHg

Question 17

is prevalence for POAG always the same for latinos and caucasians?

Answer 17

at first yes. but with age latino’s have a higher prevalence than even african americans

Question 18

is there an association between diabetes and glaucoma?

Answer 18

for boards yes… but in reality there is no physiological evidence

Question 19

why might early diabetics and first time smokers have better protection against glaucoma?

Answer 19

more rigorous retinal blood flow in early stages (things get worse later though)

Question 20

equation for ocular perfusion pressure?

Answer 20

BP-IOP

Question 21

as diastolic perfusion pressure increases, what happens to the prevalence of POAG?

Answer 21

decreases

Question 22

at first HTN can protect the eye from glaucoma. why is that effect temporary?

Answer 22

once HTN gets worse the arteries will start to narrow, so there will be a decrease in blood flow

Question 23

how many people are blind from glaucoma?

Answer 23

approx 6.7 million people

Question 24

what percentage of people over 70 have glaucoma?

Answer 24

8%

Question 25

is it true that only 50% of glaucoma patient cases are known?

Answer 25

yes

Question 26

on average how many ganglion cells die each year? and can they be regenerated?

Answer 26

4000 die each year and they cannot be regenerated

Question 27

what is the cure for glaucoma?

Answer 27

there is no cure, only management