CENTRAL CORNEAL THICKNESS IN NORMAL TENSION GLAUCOMA, PRIMARY OPEN-ANGLE GLAUCOMA, AND OCULAR HYPERTENSION: A COHORT STUDY.

Abstract

Background:

Aim: The main goal of this research is to assess the corneal thickness of individuals with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), ocular hypertension (OHT), and normal tension glaucoma (NTG).

Methods:

This study was done from June 2022 to May 2024. 150 patients were included in this research. A detailed history of the individuals was recorded, and a clinical examination was done. Further, an optical evaluation was done to diagnose any defect in the cornea. Direct Ophthalmoscope was utilized to rule out any harm to the optic nerve. An indirect ophthalmoscope was used for the detection of any defect in the retina.

Results:

The study found that the majority of patients were aged 51-60 years (47.8%), with 62.7% being male. The distribution of patients included 36.2% normal, 19.8% NTG, 28.7% POAG, and 15.3% OHT. The mean intraocular pressure (IOP) for males was 21.56±5.30 (right eye) and 19.60±4.79 (left eye), while for females it was 21.16±5.47 (right eye) and 20.70±4.06 (left eye), with NTG patients exhibiting significantly lower central corneal thickness (CCT) leading to potential misdiagnoses of POAG and normal cases as NTG and OHT.

Conclusion:

The CCT in normal tension glaucoma cases was notably low. Because of the intra-optical pressure outcome of CCT measurement, a lot of primary open-angle glaucoma cases were wrongly diagnosed as normal tension glaucoma cases and normal cases were wrongly diagnosed as ocular hypertension leading to mistreatment

Recommendation:

Clinicians should routinely measure central corneal thickness to improve the accuracy of glaucoma diagnosis and ensure appropriate treatment.