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Abstract #8222 Published in IGR 4-3
Survey of glaucoma in an eye clinic in Ghana, West Africa
Herndon LW; Challa P; Ababio-Danso B; Boateng JO; Broomer B; Ridenhour P; Allingham RRJournal of Glaucoma 2002; 11: 421-425
PURPOSE: To report the various types of glaucoma among West African patients presenting to an eye clinic in Ghana. METHODS: A complete evaluation was performed in 198 consecutive Ghanaian glaucoma patients. Main outcome measures included intraocular pressure, visual acuity, gonioscopy findings, visual field, and total number of glaucoma medications. RESULTS: The most common form of glaucoma was primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG; 44.2%). Open-angle glaucoma suspects also comprised a large percentage of the group (30.5%). Chronic angle-closure glaucoma was diagnosed in 6.6% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: POAG is the most common form of glaucoma being treated in this outpatient eye clinic in Ghana. Chronic angle-closure glaucoma was the second most common form of glaucoma in this series and was usually undiagnosed due to a lack of gonioscopic evaluation. Gonioscopy is an important diagnostic tool that should be promoted to guide more effective glaucoma treatment in this region. Pseudoexfoliation and pseudoexfoliation-associated glaucoma were not seen in this population.
L.W. Herndon, MD, Duke University Eye Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Classification:
1.1 Epidemiology (Part of: 1 General aspects)
