The profile of glaucoma in a Tertiary Ophthalmic University Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To report the pattern of glaucoma among Saudi patients who were presented to King Abdul Aziz University Hospital (KAUH).

Methods: All glaucoma or glaucoma suspect patients who were presented to KAUH from 2006 to 2008 were included; medical files of all patients were retrieved and evaluated through standardized international guidelines. Collected data included: age, sex, laterality, intraocular pressure, and cup/disk ratio. Prevalence of different glaucoma types (including 95% CI) was calculated, ANOVA and post hoc tests were applied to evaluate the difference in indices across different types.

Results: A total of 2296 eyes of 1236 patients were included. Primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) was the predominant type (46.6%) followed by primary angle closure (PAC) (17.2%), then primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) (12.8%), and secondary glaucoma (13%). Other types including (normal tension glaucoma (5.9%), childhood glaucoma (2.6%), and juvenile glaucoma (1.9%)) were also present but of lower prevalence.

Conclusion: Primary angle closure glaucoma was the predominant form of glaucoma followed by PAC, and POAG suggesting that the pattern in Saudi Arabia could be quite different from that reported for primary glaucomas in the Western literature. In addition, pseudoexfoliation was the most common form of secondary open and closed angle glaucoma. These results indicate the need for a national intervention program for early detection and referral of glaucoma cases in order to prevent significant visual loss. There is also a need for a community based assessment to determine the prevalence of glaucoma as a baseline for future intervention.