Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 114, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 3-9
Ophthalmology

Original Article
Predictive Factors for Open-Angle Glaucoma among Patients with Ocular Hypertension in the European Glaucoma Prevention Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2006.05.075Get rights and content

Objective

To evaluate the predictive factors of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in patients affected by ocular hypertension enrolled in the European Glaucoma Prevention Study (EGPS).

Design

Randomized, double-masked, controlled clinical trial.

Participants

One thousand seventy-seven patients, ≥30 years old, were enrolled at 18 European centers. The patients met inclusion criteria: intraocular pressure, 22 to 29 mmHg; 2 normal and reliable visual fields (VFs) (on the basis of mean deviation and corrected pattern standard deviation [PSD]); and a normal optic disc, as determined by an optic disc reading center.

Intervention

Treatment with dorzolamide or a placebo (the vehicle of dorzolamide) in one or both eyes.

Main Outcome Measures

Efficacy end points were VF and/or optic disc changes. Baseline demographic and clinical data were collected before randomization, except for corneal thickness measurements, which were determined during follow-up. Proportional hazards models were used to identify factors that predicted which participants in the EGPS had developed OAG.

Results

In multivariate analyses, factors that predicted the development of OAG included older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–1.69), larger vertical cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.14–1.58), larger vertical C/D ratio asymmetry (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.11–1.93), higher PSD (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.15–2.38), and lesser central corneal thickness (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.05–1.67).

Conclusions

Baseline age, vertical C/D ratio, vertical C/D ratio asymmetry, and PSD were good predictors of the onset of OAG in the EGPS. Central corneal thickness was found to be a powerful predictor of the development of OAG. The EGPS results agree with the findings of the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study and support the need for a thorough evaluation of patients with ocular hypertension.

Section snippets

Subjects and Methods

The EGPS was a multicenter, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The design and methods of the EGPS have been described12, 13 and are summarized as follows.

The protocol was approved by the ethical review committee of each participating clinic. In brief, 1081 individuals with IOP ≥ 22 mmHg in at least one eye and no evidence of glaucomatous damage were randomized to either dorzolamide or a placebo. Four patients who were already affected by glaucoma at the time of

Results

Baseline demographic and clinical factors of participants who did and did not develop OAG in the EGPS are reported in Table 1, Table 2. The percentages in Table 1 were calculated by dividing the number of participants who developed OAG by the number of randomized participants (1077). These values are not adjusted for duration of follow-up. Central corneal thickness measurements, which began in 2002, were completed in 854 participants.

Given the very high correlation between the vertical and

Discussion

It is deemed important to assess the predictive (prognostic) factors for the development of OAG to identify the ocular hypertension patients at greater risk for future progression to OAG who may benefit from a prompt therapeutic approach.

In the EGPS, after adjusting for the treatment arm, older age, larger vertical C/D ratio, larger vertical C/D ratio asymmetry, higher PSD, and thinner CCT were the statistically significant predictive factors for development of OAG over a 5-year period. Higher

References (37)

  • J.M. Tielsch et al.

    Diabetes, intraocular pressure, and primary open-angle glaucoma in the Baltimore Eye Survey

    Ophthalmology

    (1995)
  • Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

    (1992)
  • A. Sommer et al.

    Relationship between intraocular pressure and primary open angle glaucoma among white and black Americans: the Baltimore Eye Survey

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (1991)
  • J.M. Tielsch et al.

    Hypertension, perfusion pressure, and primary open angle glaucoma: a population-based assessment

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (1995)
  • M.C. Leske et al.

    Risk factors for open-angle glaucoma: the Barbados Eye Study

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (1995)
  • M.C. Leske et al.

    Incidence of open-angle glaucoma: the Barbados Eye Study

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (2001)
  • J.M. Tielsch et al.

    Family history and risk of primary open angle glaucoma: the Baltimore Eye Survey

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (1994)
  • M.C. Leske et al.

    Incident open-angle glaucoma and blood pressure

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (2002)
  • Cited by (261)

    • Endpoints for clinical trials in ophthalmology

      2023, Progress in Retinal and Eye Research
    • Age and intraocular pressure in murine experimental glaucoma

      2022, Progress in Retinal and Eye Research
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Manuscript no. 2005-1232.

    Supported by the European Commission, Brussels, Belgium (BIOMED II program, contract no.: BMH4-CT-96-1598), and Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

    Correspondence to Stefano Miglior, MD, Università di Milano Bicocca, Policlinico di Monza, Via Amati 111, 20052, Monza (Mi), Italy. E-mail:[email protected]

    See “Appendix” for members of the EGPS Group and Writing Committee.

    View full text