Population-based prevalence of optic disc haemorrhages in elderly Japanese

Abstract

Purpose To estimate the population-based prevalence of disc haemorrhages (DHs) in an elderly Japanese population and evaluate related factors including optic disc morphology. Patients and methods Colour fundus photographs were taken during the screening examination of the Tajimi Study, during which 3021 of 3870 eligible residents of the city aged 40 years or older were screened (response rate, 78.1%). All fundus photographs were graded by one masked examiner to determine the presence of DHs. Results Good quality fundus photographs were available for both eyes of 2761 subjects. DHs were found in at least one eye of 34 subjects (1.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8-1.6%). The prevalence was 14.0% (95% CI, 8.0-19.9%), 9.7% (2.9-16.6%), and 0.4% (0.1-0.6%) in subjects with definitive glaucoma, glaucoma suspects, and subjects without glaucoma, respectively. Logistic regression analyses indicated that DHs were associated with glaucoma (Po0.001), glaucoma suspects (Po0.001), and older age (P ¼ 0.032). No Heidelberg Retina Tomograph parameters differed between subjects with and without DHs. Conclusions The prevalence of DHs was 1.2% in an elderly Japanese population, which was similar to other population studies. In addition to glaucoma, older age was associated with higher prevalence of DHs.

Prevalence of optic disc haemorrhages in an elderly UK Caucasian population and possible association with reticular pseudodrusen—the Bridlington Eye Assessment Project (BEAP): a cross-sectional study (2002–2006)

“…The positive predictive value (PPV) of DH varies throughout the literature, appearing to reflect the type of glaucoma most prevalent within the population. In a Japanese study, where NTG is most prevalent, the PPV was high (52.9%) [14]. Of clinical relevance is the finding that a DH in our UK population has a PPV of 27% for OAG or NTG, as 27% of right eye DHs was found in eyes with OAG or NTG.…”

“…Many reports are hospital-based focusing on subjects with an established glaucoma diagnosis, ocular hypertension or documented DH, with associated selection bias [3,4,13,25,26]. The prevalence of DH in the Bridlington (UK) population (aged >65 years) of 1.5% is comparable to that in other large population-based studies, including 1.2% in Japan [14], Australia (1.4%) [13], United States (0.9%) [11] and China (1.2%) [12]. To date our finding represents the highest population-based prevalence, which may reflect the older age of our cohort.…”

“…Several population-based studies have published the prevalence of DHs, demonstrating they are infrequently found in normal eyes (0.9-3.4%) [4,[11][12][13][14][15]. They have their highest prevalence (11-46%) in eyes with normaltension glaucoma (NTG) [13,[16][17][18], with lower prevalence among eyes with POAG (2-37%) and OHT (0.4-10%) [13,14,17]. There are reports DHs are more common in women, with increasing age and vascular disease [13].…”

The occurrence of optic disc haemorrhage in primary open‐angle glaucoma eyes with lower normal pressure and its relating factors

“…Disc haemorrhage (DH) is reported to occur in the contiguous part of the localized retinal nerve fibre layer defect (NFLD) or the narrowing rim of the optic disc margin among patients with OAG (Sugiyama et al 1997; Sugiyama et al 1999), in the inferotemporal and superotemporal regions of the optic disc (Shihab et al 1982; Soares et al 2004; Tomidokoro et al 2009). In our NTG population with lower IOP than previous reports, the sites DH agreed with those reported in the previous OAG group with higher IOP.…”

Recognizing a Glaucomatous Optic Disc

“…Their frequency is not statistically different in glaucoma eyes with high or normal IOP [46]. Their prevalence in non-glaucomatous eyes ranges from 0.2% -1.03% [48][49][50][51]…”