Intraocular pressure and arterial blood pressure correlation in pregnant and postmenopausal Nigerian women.

Objective: Intraocular pressure (IOP) has been reported to be associated with systemic blood pressure (SBP) in population based studies. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between IOP and arterial blood pressure in pregnant and menopausal Nigerian women.

Method: A longitudinal study of a hundred pregnant women aged 20 to 35 years (mean +/- SD 27 +/- 2.10) was done. The pregnant women were recruited by systematic random sampling from the antenatal booking clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). Tests were carried out in the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy as well as 6 weeks postpartum. Thirty-three normotensive post menopausal women and 33 hypertensive postmenopausal women aged 45-55 years old (mean +/- SD 51.09 +/- 2.34 and 52.30 +/- 1.52 respectively) were also recruited for this study.

Results: There was a significant positive correlation between IOP and systolic BP (r = 0.68) and IOP and diastolic BP (r = 0.75) in hypertensive postmenopausal women. There was a weak negative correlation between IOP and systolic BP (r = 0.12) and IOP and diastolic BP (r = -0.20) in normotensive postmenopausal women. However, IOP did not correlate with SBP throughout the course of pregnancy (r = -0.20). The difference in IOP between pregnant and post menopausal women was statistically significant, p < 0.05, t = 16.47. There was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05, t = 12.03) in systolic blood pressure between the pregnant and postmenopausal women. Also, the difference in diastolic blood pressure between the pregnant and postmenopausal women was statistically significant (p < 0.05, t = 11.07).

Conclusion: IOP does not correlate with SBP throughout the course of pregnancy.