Increased prevalence of ocular glaucomatous abnormalities in systemic sclerosis.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases, vasospasm, and dysimmunity have been implicated in normal tension glaucoma (NTG).

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of ocular abnormalities suggestive of glaucoma damage in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: 61 patients with SSc (mean (SD) age 56.2 (12) years, mean (SD) disease duration 9.9 (9) years; 41 with limited cutaneous disease) and 37 control subjects with osteoarthritis (mean (SD) age 55.9 (12) years) were studied. They were systematically referred to an ophthalmologist. The evaluation was based on aplanation tonometry, ophthalmoscopy with retinal photography (evaluation of cup/disc ratio (c/d)), and automated static perimetry (determination of mean defects (MD)). Statistical analyses were performed with the chi(2), Mann-Whitney, and Spearman tests.

Results: The mean visual acuity and intraocular pressure were similar in both groups. An excavation with a c/d >0.3 was found in 27 eyes from patients with SSc and 5 eyes from controls (p = 0.009); a c/d >0.7 was found in 4 eyes from patients with SSc and none in the controls (NS). Visual field defects (MD <-2 dB) were found in 55 eyes from patients with SSc and in 18 eyes from controls (p<0.0001). A concomitant c/d >0.3 and MD <-2 dB was found in 21 eyes from 12 patients with SSc but in none of the control eyes (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: Ocular abnormalities suggesting glaucomatous neuropathy without ocular hypertension were dramatically more prevalent in patients with SSc. These abnormalities seem to be mild but justify long term follow up. They are consistent with the vascular pathogenic hypothesis for NTG.