Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The diagnosis and management of glaucoma is especially difficult in the developing countries. Lack of cost effective screening strategies, low income, low rates of literacy and inadequate infrastructures and human resources for eye care services are the obstacles for delivering glaucoma service. Majority of people with glaucoma in developing countries usually present at an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis; which negatively affects their quality of life. Further research, proper allocation of resources and collaborative effort by blindness prevention programs will hopefully provide new evidences on cost effective ways to screen and manage glaucoma in the future. This article aims to highlight the burden of glaucoma and ways to address the challenges in developing countries.

Objective: To find out the most common referral parameter among the glaucoma suspects patients from general eye clinic and to establish glaucoma diagnosis. Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort hospital based study. Two hundred patients from January to February 2017 sent to glaucoma clinic as glaucoma suspects were re-evaluated meticulously by glaucoma specialist and were diagnosed as glaucoma, non glaucoma, suspects and ocular hypertension. Results: Out of the 200 patients referred to glaucoma clinic as glaucoma suspects only19% were diagnosed to have glaucoma. The mean age at which glaucoma diagnosed was 55.29(14.4) compared to 41.6(15.1) in normal group. One hundred and sixty five patients were referred on the basis of suspicious optic nerve head, among them 14.5% (24/165) had glaucoma. This study showed that, open angle glaucoma (OAG) 28.9% was the most common type of total glaucoma diagnosed. The mean vertical cup discratio in the OAG group was 0.69±0.1 (0.4 -0.9) compared to 0.56 ± 0.11((0.2-0.8)(p=0.00) normal. The mean intra ocular pressure (IOP) in OAG group was 19.73 ±4.95(11-32) mmHg compared to 16.74± 3.36(10-30) mmHg (p=0.00) in normal group. The mean central corneal thickness (CCT) in OAG group was 533.05 ± 31.24μm (467-606) compared to normal was 534.9±33.6 μm (432-696) (p=0.670). Conclusions: Suspicious optic nerve head is the most common referral parameter between the general ophthalmologist and residents, but this study shows only few of them were diagnosed with glaucoma. This gives us a clue that the ophthalmologists and residents are to be trained better to help them identify the signs of glaucoma on the optic nerve head beside its size, which will reduce unnecessary burden to the resources of patients and hospital.

Background This study evaluated the treatment outcomes of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in a routine clinical practice in Nepal. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of observational data of patients with RVO who attended the retina clinic of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology from 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018. The main outcome was the mean change in visual acuity (VA) at 12 months from the start of treatment. Other outcomes of interest were the mean change in central subfield thickness (CST) and the number of treatments over 12 months. Results A total of 99 eyes (of 99 patients) with RVO (60 - branch RVO [BRVO] and 39 - central RVO [CRVO] were available for the analysis. Eyes with CRVO had worse VA and CST at baseline. Eyes in both groups were similar for age, associated factors for RVO, duration of vision loss and the presence of ischemia at baseline. The mean (95% Confidence Interval [CI]) VA change at 12 months for BRVO was − 0.35 (− 0.46, − 0.23) logMAR (p < 0.001) from a mean (SD) of 0.75 (0.42) logMAR at baseline with 63% achieving VA < 0.3 logMAR while for CRVO it was − 0.35 (− 0.46, − 0.23) logMAR (p = 0.19) from 1.13 (0.61) logMAR at baseline and VA < 0.3 logMAR in 36%. The mean (95% CI) change in CST over 12 months was − 114 (− 189, − 40) μm (p = 0.003) from a mean (SD) of 423 (151) μm at baseline for BRVO and − 184(− 276, − 91) μm (p < 0.001) from 519 (213) μm for CRVO. Patients in both groups received a median of 2 bevacizumab injections over 12 months. Around 37% eyes were lost before 12 months’ observation. The mean VA and CST trajectory in these eyes at their last visit was similar to those that completed 12 months. Conclusion The outcomes of RVO over the 12 months were inferior and the number of treatments fewer than those of the clinical trials and other reports from routine clinical practice. Future studies to identify the treatment barriers are warranted to improve the treatment outcomes in our patients.

Background: This study evaluated the treatment outcomes of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in a routine clinical practice in Nepal. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of observational data of patients with RVO who attended the retina clinic of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology from 1 November 2017 to 31 October 2018. The main outcome was the mean change in visual acuity (VA) at 12 months from the start of treatment. Other outcomes of interest were the mean change in central subfield thickness (CST) and the number of treatments over 12 months. Results: A total of 99 eyes (of 99 patients) with RVO (60 - branch RVO [BRVO] and 39 - central RVO [CRVO] were available for the analysis. Eyes with CRVO had worse VA and CST at baseline. Eyes in both groups were similar for age, associated factors for RVO, duration of vision loss and the presence of ischemia at baseline. The mean (95% Confidence Interval [CI]) VA change at 12 months for BRVO was -0.35 (-0.46, -0.23) logMAR (p < 0.001) from a mean (SD) of 0.75 (0.42) logMAR at baseline with 63% achieving VA < 0.3 logMAR while for CRVO it was -0.35 (-0.46, -0.23) logMAR (p = 0.19) from 1.13 (0.61) logMAR at baseline and VA < 0.3 logMAR in 36%. The mean (95% CI) change in CST over 12 months was -114 (-189, -40) µm (p = 0.003) from a mean (SD) of 423 (151) µm at baseline for BRVO and -184(-276, -91) µm (p < 0.001) from 519 (213) µm for CRVO. Patients in both groups received a median of 2 bevacizumab injections over 12 months. Around 37% eyes were lost before 12 months’ observation. The mean VA and CST trajectory in these eyes at their last visit was similar to those that completed 12 months. Conclusion: The outcomes of RVO are inferior and the number of treatments over the 12 months fewer than those of clinical trials and other reports from routine clinical practice. Future studies to identify the barriers for undertreatment in our practice are warranted to improve the treatment outcomes.