Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Redefined

Dr. Louis Pasquale makes the case for redefining the term primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) because the name poorly describes the disease. His experience has shown that POAG might actually be several diseases, therefore stratifying the condition into different subtypes, each with associated risk factors, would optimize patient care. For example, research on patients with early paracentral visual-field loss suggests that they might have different phenotypes and genotypes than others with POAG and could benefit from nitric-oxide donators or Rho-kinase inhibitors. Patients with African ancestry represent another subtype, showing disease onset a decade earlier than white patients.