Certain vascular conditions and diseases have been identified as risk factors for normal-tension glaucoma development.

Certain vascular conditions and diseases have been identified as risk factors for normal-tension glaucoma development. Photo: Cleveland Clinic. Click image to enlarge.

Editor’s Note: As part of our “Year in Review” retrospective, we’ve selected the top 30 news stories of the year and are re-sharing them as we close out 2023. Follow along as we count down to number 1!

This story was originally published May 2, 2023.

No. 13 biggest news story of 2023:

Last week in New Orleans at ARVO 2023, researchers presented data on an effort to understand how vascular dysregulation may contribute to normal tension glaucoma (NTG) pathogenesis through improper retinal perfusion. To outline these effects, the work focused on primary vascular comorbidities in association with NTG development risk.

The retrospective study included five years of data. A total of 874 NTG cases were included and compared one to one with age- and gender-matched controls. Odds of developing NTG were determined given exposure to many different primary vascular comorbidities, including angina, diabetes, systemic hypertension, Raynaud’s disease, migraine, obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral vascular disease and renovascular hypertension.

Of the investigated vascular comorbidities, only migraine, peripheral vascular disease and angina were found as risk factors for NTG occurrence. However, there was an increased prevalence in NTG cases of Raynaud’s syndrome, systemic hypertension, diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea.

“The identification of modifiable risk factors may suggest pathways for rational drug design that can reduce the disease burden of NTG,” the team wrote in their abstract. “The results of this study further indicate that early ophthalmologic screening could be especially valuable for patients with vascular comorbidities.” Increased attention on screening for these patients may result in earlier diagnosis and subsequently, better, more effective treatment, they concluded.

Original abstract content © Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2023.

Meltzer E, Hanover J, Yakobashvili D, Khouri AS. A case-control study of primary vascular risk factors for normal tension glaucoma. ARVO 2023 annual meeting.