OBJECTIVE: To compare the differences in optic disc configuration with different stages of visual field loss in normal-tension glaucoma. DESIGN: Interocular pairwise comparisons. SETTING: Glaucoma clinic of a teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Thirteen patients with normal-tension glaucoma and asymmetric visual field loss of at least 2.5 dB in the mean defect of the visual field indexes. INTERVENTIONS: Areas under the optic disc profiles mapped from values for radial sections of the optic disc measured at intervals of 30 degrees and expressed as percentages of the area of a rectangle were obtained from stereophotographs with a computerized image analysis system. Visual fields were tested with automated perimetry (OCTOPUS), using program G1. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Correlation analyses between the interocular differences in the areas under the optic disc profile and the interocular differences in the visual field indexes. RESULTS: The correlation coefficients between the interocular differences in mean defect and those of the area under the optic disc profile in the superior to temporal sections ranged from -.71 to -.61 (.007 < P < .028). The interocular differences in loss variance correlated with the differences in the area under the optic disc profile in the superior section (r = -.61, P = .0252). CONCLUSION: The differences in visual field loss between the two eyes in normal-tension glaucoma appear mainly to reflect morphometric changes in the superior half of the optic disc.

Aged↗

PubMed1994

Interocular asymmetry of optic disc size and its relevance to visual field loss in normal-tension glaucoma.

We evaluated the relevance of interocular asymmetry of optic disc size to the level of intraocular pressure and the extent of optic disc and visual field changes in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). Fifty-two eyes of 26 patients with NTG were measured for optic disc topography using a computerized image analysis system (IMAGEnet, Topcon), diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP), and Octopus automated visual field. Of the 26 patients, 22 had interocular asymmetry of the optic disc area of at least 0.01 mm2 and of mean IOP of at least 0.3 mmHg. Of these 22 patients, 8 had the higher mean IOP in the eye with the larger optic disc. In these 8 patients, the visual field defect was significantly more advanced in the eye with the larger optic disc (Wilcoxon signed ranks test, P < 0.05). These findings appear to support the hypothesis that an eye with a large optic disc may be more vulnerable to a rise in IOP.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Why palliative care?

And so there we have it in a nutshell--palliative care is about caring. Caring for those who are dying and for those who look after them and then grieve their loss. Palliative care has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of neglect and bad management which, until recently, had been the lot of the dying. Perhaps this new specialty may become a guiding beacon leading a profession, somewhat bewitched and side tracked by its own scientific cleverness, back to the road of caring. I sincerely hope that as the specialty gains recognition it does not lose its present identify and fine sense of purpose.

Humans↗

PubMed1994

24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring in elderly normotensive individuals and its reproducibility after one year.

To study ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and its reproducibility in healthy normotensive elderly subjects, 34 individuals were randomly selected. Their ages were 65 years (n = 10), 70 years (n = 10), 75 years (n = 8) and 80 years (n = 6). SpaceLabs 90207 system was used and one initial and a follow-up measurement after one year was performed. It was found that 24h ABP easily could be recorded in elderly subjects. A mean of 97% of the measurements were successful and only two of 34 subjects dropped out because of measurement failures. Nocturnal blood pressures were lower in all age groups and in both sexes. The standard deviations of the differences between the baseline and one year measurements were for the daytime period 8/4 mmHg and for the nighttime period 12/8 mmHg. In conclusion, ABP is easily accepted as a clinical method in normotensive elderly subjects. In all subjects there is a reduction of the nocturnal blood pressure and the reproducibility of ABP after one year is good.

Aged↗

PubMed1993