Relationship Between Blood Pressure and Rates of Glaucomatous Visual Field Progression: The Vascular Imaging in Glaucoma Study
At the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, a prospective cohort study was conducted to examine the relationship between systemic arterial blood pressure (BP) and the rate of change in standard automated perimetry (SAP) in eyes with glaucoma and glaucoma suspects.
Participants underwent ophthalmic examination, BP measurement, and SAP at 4-month intervals. 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was acquired at the baseline visit. Linear mixed models (adjusted for inclusion of both eyes, age, gender, race, intraocular pressure, baseline severity, and central corneal thickness) were used to investigate the effect of BP on the rates of SAP mean deviation (MD) change over time.
The impact of initial 24-hour and follow-up mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) on SAP MD change was assessed.
Conclusions. Lower baseline 24-hour ABPM measurements, as well as low SBP during follow-up, were significantly associated with faster rates of glaucomatous SAP progression and may be used as a predictor of risk of glaucomatous progression.
