Glaucoma-I Free Papers - aioseducation

70th AIOC Proceedings, Cochin 2012Cataract and glaucoma are frequently coexisting ocular conditions in theelderly population.Pre-existing glaucoma could remain undiagnosed if an inadequatepreoperative evaluation is performed. According to the Chennai glaucomastudy, 39% of the phakic subjects with glaucoma in urban population hadsignificant cataract. 7If the healthcare system could detect these cases when they present for cataractsurgery it would dramatically improve the detection rates for glaucoma inthe population (current detection rates are 7.8% for primary glaucoma in theurban cohort 4 and 1% for the rural sample). 7The prevalence of glaucoma in our study is 8.01% of those planned for cataractsurgery. If these numbers are similar for the rest of the country this approachwould result in detection of a large number of those with undiagnosedglaucoma.For many people in the country the only point of contact with the eye caresystem is when they seek or are “screened” for cataract surgery. Inadequateor inappropriate examination at this time is a lost opportunity to detect andtreat other non cataract ocular pathology. Unless people go for periodic eyecheckups that advocate a comprehensive eye examination at each visit, the rateof undiagnosed glaucoma in India will remain high.REFERENCES1. Foster A. Vision 2020: The Cataract Challenge. Community Eye Health. 2000;13:17-21.2882. World Health Organisation. Global initiative for the elimination of avoidableblindness: An informal consultation. Geneva: WHO; 1997.3. Foster A. Cataract and “Vision 2020- the right to sight” initiative. Br J Ophthalmol.2001;85:635-9.4. Vijaya L, George R, Baskaran M, Arvind H, Raju P, Ramesh SV, et al. Prevalenceof primary open-angle glaucoma in an urban south Indian population andcomparison with a rural population. The Chennai Glaucoma Study. Ophthalmology.2008;115:648–54.5. Arvind H, George R, Raju P, Ramesh SV, Baskaran M, Paul PG, et al. Glaucoma inaphakia and pseudophakia in the Chennai Glaucoma Study. Br J Ophthalmol. 2005;89:699–703.6. Murthy G, Gupta SK, John N, Vashist P. Current status of cataract blindness andVision 2020: the right to sight initiative in India. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2008;56:489–94.7. Ronnie George, Hemamalini Arvind, M Baskaran, S Ve Ramesh, Prema Raju andLingam Vijaya. The Chennai glaucoma study: Prevalence and risk factors forglaucoma in cataract operated eyes in urban Chennai. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2010;58:243–5.8. Vijaya L, George R, Rashima A, Raju P, Arvind H, Baskaran M, et al. Outcomes of