Background: Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXS) has variable prevalence rates in the glaucoma population depending on geographic location and racial composition of the population studied. There is no data available on this subject in Ethiopia.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of PXS among Ethiopian glaucoma clinic population.
Design: A prospective study.
Setting: The Glaucoma Clinic of Menelik-II-Hospital, which is a tertiary eye care centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Participants: All new patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension (ocular HPN) seen during the study period from 1st April to 30th September 1996 were included in the study.
Results: Our of the 432 new patients of glaucoma or ocular HPN seen during the study, 108 patients (25%) had PXS. The age of PXS cases ranged from 32 years to 86 years (mean 62.3 years). There were 80 males and 28 females. Of the PXS patients, 104 (96.3%) were cases of chronic open angle glaucoma, while angle closure glaucoma and ocular HPN were rare comprising only two patients (1.85%) each.
Conclusion: The relatively high prevalence rate of PXS among Ethiopian glaucoma clinic population found in this study stresses the need for further community-based research in order to prevent blindness due to glaucoma associated with PXS.