Water-drinking Test in Normal Tension Glaucoma Patients with and without High Myopia

Abstract

This prospective study aims to evaluate the correlation between myopic severity and normal tension glaucoma (NTG) by investigating IOP changes following water-drinking test (WDT). We reviewed 61 patients with NTG during an interval of three years, of which 31 were highly myopic (HM) and 30 were non-highly myopic (NHM). Basic characteristics such as age, gender, spherical equivalence, baseline IOP, visual field parameters, and average retinal nerve fiber layer thickness were compared between NTG patients with and without high myopia. The IOP parameters obtained following WDT were then compared between the HM and NHM NTG groups. Intragroup analysis revealed significant IOP elevation following WDT within the 45-minute duration in both groups. However, no significant differences in IOP parameters were observed between the HM and NHM NTG groups. In conclusion, although the pattern of IOP fluctuations was different, the extent of IOP fluctuations and peak IOP following WDT was similar between the HM and NHM NTG groups, suggesting that myopic severity probably has a limited role in NTG. Lastly, WDT was an effective tool for eliciting IOP peaks when 24-hour IOP monitoring is not available.