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Top-eight Optometric Glaucoma Society Meeting
Orlando, Florida, USA November 9-11, 2009

Murray Fingeret and Michael Patella

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1. Classic risk factors related to glaucoma development do not provide accurate estimates of patient disability risk. (George Spaeth, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
2. The likelihood that a patient will become disabled due to glaucoma is a function of: (1) disease severity and duration; (2) selfcare capabilities of the patient; (3) clinician skill; and (4) patient adaptability. (George Spaeth, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
3. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in African Americans. Compared to Caucasians, POAG progresses more rapidly and appears ten years earlier. Similarly, ocular hypertension appears twelve years earlier with a greater rate of conversion to glaucoma. (Christopher Girkin, Birmingham, AL, USA)
4. Changes in trabeculecetomy that have led to improved surgical outcomes include use of a larger treatment area, posteriorly directed flow, tight adjustable sutures, and a wide area of antimetablolite application. (Peng T. Khaw, London, UK)
5. Chorioretinal lesions can produce visual field (VF) defects that mimic a retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) pattern of loss. A unilateral temporal hemianopsia represents a pituitary lesion until proven otherwise. POAG can occur in the setting of dysmorphic optic nerves. (Louis Pasquale Boston, MA, USA)
6. Disc hemorrhages are relatively common, occur early and are more frequently seen in open angle than in angle closure glaucoma. If large enough, hemorrhages may produce a focal compressive optic neuropathy. (Louis Pasquale, Boston, MA, USA)
7. Ethnic differences in average RNFL thickness were recently found, even taking into account effects of age, optic disc area, and signal strength. (Murray Fingeret, New York, NY, USA)
8. Over the past decade, differences in Sita normals in different ethnic groups were evaluated and nothing was found suggesting strong racial effects. Approximately a quarter dB was found between groups which was smaller than the inter-center differences seen in normals studies. More recently, others have looked in an organized way and also concluded that there is little difference in function. Still the differences were not zero and may be statistically significant with greater numbers studied. (Michael Patella, Dublin, CA, USA)