2020–2021 BCSC Basic and Clinical Science Course™
10 Glaucoma
Chapter 4: Clinical Evaluation and Imaging of the Anterior Segment
Refractive Error
Determining the refractive status of the eye is important in the evaluation of glaucoma. First, correcting any significant refractive error is necessary for accurate perimetry; and second, different refractive states can be associated with various types of glaucoma. For example, myopia, especially high myopia, is a risk factor for primary open-angle glaucoma. In addition, pigment dispersion syndrome is more common in moderately myopic eyes. Optic nerve head (also called optic disc) and peripapillary anomalies associated with myopia can confound the evaluation of the optic disc and retinal nerve fiber layer, both clinically and with optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging (see Chapter 5). Hyperopia is associated with an increased risk of primary angle closure, and the hyperopic eye generally has a smaller optic nerve head.
Excerpted from BCSC 2020-2021 series: Section 10 - Glaucoma. For more information and to purchase the entire series, please visit https://www.aao.org/bcsc.