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Siddiqui What is risk of pigmentary glaucoma from pigment dispersion syndrome?
Community-based studies of patients seeking care provide a basis for the care and
counseling of other patients seen in the offices of ophthalmologists and optometrists. It is
likely that other cases of the conditions exist in the community, but are unknown because
they are undiagnosed. In the case of pigment dispersion syndrome these numbers are
expected to be small, as the majority of patients were myopic and patients with this
degree of myopia (-3.9 d) would presumably have sought eye care for blurred vision. In
other clinical situations, undiagnosed cases would presumably have less severe disease,
as the disease problem had not bothered the patient enough to seek medical attention. The
current study does not attempt to include patients that were not examined and for whom
we have no data. To find undiscovered cases, mass screenings of the population would be
required, at considerable effort and expense. To discover the "true" incidence of a
condition, two population-based screenings of all patients in the community, or
representative samples of the patients, would be required. The first screening study would
determine the incidence of the condition (number of cases present), while the second
screening several years later would find new cases not present in the first screening
exams and could thus determine the incidence of the condition. Whether the expense and
effort of such screening efforts is worthwhile to determine the "true" incidence of a
condition, as opposed to the estimated incidence determined by a community-based
retrospective study, is unclear.
In conclusion, this retrospective, community-based study reports a generally
lower conversion rate of pigment dispersion syndrome to pigmentary glaucoma than has
been reported from glaucoma-based practices. Increased intraocular pressure (>21 mm
Hg) at the time of diagnosis of pigment dispersion syndrome was associated with an
