ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To compare the clinical characteristics and the progression rate of glaucoma between the patients with recurrent and non-recurrent optic disc hemorrhages. METHODS: The medical records of 31 eyes 28 patients with optic disc hemorrhage were retrospectively reviewed. The patients had been followed up regularly with 1-3 months interval between 1991 and 2002 for more than 1 year after the first hemorrhage. Non-recurrent group was defined as having one episode of disc hemorrhage while recurrent group as having two or more episodes of hemorrhages. RESULTS: Sixteen eyes (51.6%) showed recurrent and fifteen eyes (48.4%) showed non-recurrent hemorrhages. Normal tension glaucoma was the most common type of glaucoma in both recurrent and non-recurrent group. Inferotemporal area was the most common location of disc hemorrhage in both groups. There were no differences in prevalence of associated systemic diseases between both groups. Recurrent group (43.8%) had more progressive change of optic disc than non-recurrent group (13.3%) with a borderline statistical difference (P=0.07). The concordance between the location of disc hemorrhage and retinal nerve fiber layer defect was higher in recurrent group than non-recurrent group (P=0.09). Progressive change of visual field was not different between both groups (P=1.00). CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent group showed more progressive change of optic disc than non-recurrent group. However, visual field change showed no difference between 2 group. Further study must be made with a large number of patients and longer follow-up period.