Dyslipidemia in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma

ABSTRACT

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) isusually asymptomatic till advanced stages of the disease. Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the primary risk factorfor development of POAG. But in spite of control of IOP, some cases progress which strengthens the viewthat there must be other independent risk factors in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Serum lipids have beenfound to be associated with glaucoma in few studies. We conducted a study to assess the relation betweendyslipidemia and glaucoma on 100 cases of glaucoma and 100 age-matched controls. Detailed ophthalmicexamination was done in all subjects and fasting lipid profile was compared between cases and controls.Levels of total cholesterol, total triglycerides and LDL were significantly higher in cases than in controls witha p value < 0.0001. We conclude that dyslipidemia is an independent risk factor for POAG.