Research Article - Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology (2020) Volume 4, Issue 2

Variability of the risk factors measurements and 5-year glaucoma risk estimation.

The risk factors of the development of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) were identified according to the joint results of the ocular hypertension treatment study (OHTS) and the European glaucoma prevention study (EGPS): namely older age, higher intraocular pressure (IOP), thinner central corneal thickness (CCT), larger vertical cup-disc ratio (VCDR) and a greater pattern standard deviation (PSD) value of Visual field (VF) test. Base on the results, a risk calculator that predict the 5-year risk of POAG development was developed. This allows integration of all the variables into one single and quantifiable unit. It could also aid clinical decision-making. However, these risk factors change over time and are subjected to measurement variabilities. For instance, the differences in the measurement of VCDR by different persons or modalities could lead to significant variability in the 5-year risk calculation, which could also affect clinical decision. In this commentary, we summarise and discuss the latest literature on the variability of VCDR measurement, its impact on glaucoma risk calculation, the limitation of the current risk calculator and the potential future development of a risk assessment model for OHT.

Author(s): Thomas C Lam, Poemen P Chan

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