Prematurity—Risk Factor or Coincidence in Congenital Glaucoma?

Abstract

Background and Objective: To correlate the intraocular pressure with the postconceptional age and identify a statistically significant connection between congenital glaucoma and prematurity. Materials and Methods: The current paper is a retrospective, comparative, case-control study. Data collection featured maternal age, gestational age at birth, birth weight, and intraocular ocular pressure (IOP) measurements. Results: Forty-two eyes of 21 children underwent examination. The participants were assigned into two groups. The Preterm-Glaucoma (PG) group included eight preterm-born children diagnosed with glaucoma, whereas the Preterm (P) group was comprised of premature newborns without the aforementioned condition. There was no statistically relevant difference in birth weight (p = 0.691078) nor in mean gestational age (p = 0.752623) between the two groups. The mean IOP in the PG group was 23.813 ± 4.5493, whereas in the P group, it ranged around 13.231 ± 1.0699, p < 0.0001. Using mixed-effects models, we obtained a reduction in IOP of 0.45 mmHg per week in the first month of life. A further weekly reduction of 0.36 mmHg was achieved in the next two months. Conclusions: The mean IOP of prematurely born children decreased with age. Our findings correlate with previously conducted studies, however, the drop in IOP values exceeded any data published so far. We found no correlation between prematurity and the incidence of congenital glaucoma.

Association of sex with the global burden of vision impairment caused by neonatal preterm birth: An analysis from the global burden of disease study 2019

“…Primary congenital glaucoma is also more common in premature infants. According to a 2006 study, congenital glaucoma incidence is much higher in the preterm neonate population (2%) than in the general population ( 7 ). Premature infants also have been linked to an increased prevalence of strabismus, myopia, lower stereoacuity, and peripheral vision loss.…”

Challenges of Secondary Glaucoma Management Following Congenital Cataract Surgery, Penetrating Keratoplasty and Vitreoretinal Surgery

“…A bilateral Ahmed valve implantation was performed due to the risk of scarring and bleb failure with a trabeculectomy. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible visual loss and the second most common cause of blindness, leading to a huge burden worldwide [4,5]. Congenital glaucoma commonly occurs among communities that encourage consanguinity and may be classified as primary (without any ocular or systemic developmental anomalies) or secondary congenital glaucoma (accompanied by other pathologies) [6][7][8].…”