advertisement
Central corneal thickness (CCT) is an important metric that has been validated as a risk factor for developing glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Siegfried and colleagues report a connection between thinner corneas and increased partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) in the anterior chamber angle of patients undergoing cataract and/or glaucoma surgery. They propose that alterations of oxygen distribution in some patients may result in formation of reactive oxygen species in the anterior chamber and eventually oxidative stress that leads to alteration in outflow facility. If their findings hold true in the next stages of preclinical and clinical testing, )>this would be the first validated physiologic link between thin CCT and development of open-angle glaucoma. These findings also raise the prospect of introducing new therapies in the field of glaucoma that directly address oxidative stress in the anterior segment and aqueous outflow system of the eye.