A deep dive into the latest European Glaucoma Society and Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society guidelines and their relevance to India

Abstract

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in India. Despite advances in diagnosing and managing glaucoma, there is a lack of India-specific clinical guidelines on glaucoma. Ophthalmologists often refer to the European Glaucoma Society (EGS) and Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society (APGS) guidelines. A group of glaucoma experts was convened to review the recently released EGS guideline (fifth edition) and the APGS guideline and explore their relevance to the Indian context. This review provides the salient features of EGS and APGS guidelines and their utility in Indian scenario. Glaucoma diagnosis should be based on visual acuity and refractive errors, slit-lamp examination, gonioscopy, tonometry, visual field (VF) testing, and clinical assessment of optic nerve head, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and macula. The intraocular pressure target must be individualized to the eye and revised at every visit. Prostaglandin analogues are the most effective medications and are recommended as the first choice in open-angle glaucoma (OAG). In patients with cataract and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG), phacoemulsification alone or combined phacoemulsification and glaucoma surgery are recommended. Trabeculectomy augmented with antifibrotic agents is recommended as the initial surgical treatment for OAG. Laser peripheral iridotomy and surgery in combination with medical treatment should be considered in high-risk individuals aged <50 years. In patients with phakic and PACG, phacoemulsification alone or combined phacoemulsification and glaucoma surgery are recommended. Visual acuity, VF testing, clinical assessment of the optic disc and RNFL, and tonometry are strongly recommended for monitoring glaucoma progression.

Eficiencia antiinflamatoria de dexametasona 1.0 mg/ml vs bromfenaco 0.9 mg/ml administrados previo a la facotrabeculectomía en pacientes con Glaucoma

“…Se calcula que a nivel mundial hay 57.5 millones de personas con glaucoma y por cada 1,000 personas, aproximadamente ocho se encuentran afectadas. Recientemente, se informó que habría un estimado de 79.6 millones de personas con glaucoma para 2020 y de 111.8 millones de casos para 2040 (Wang et al, 2018b;Murthy et al, 2022). En lo referente a Latinoamérica, se estima que en 2020 más de 8 millones de personas se encontrarían diagnosticados con glaucoma, teniendo una prevalencia de 3.6 % en personas mayores de 40 años (Almatlouh et al, 2019).…”

Comments on: A deep dive into the latest European Glaucoma Society and Asia Pacific Glaucoma Society guidelines and their relevance to India

“…I read with great interest the article by Murthy et al . [ 1 ] The expert panel has given us important recommendations based on Asia Pacific Glaucoma Society (APGS) and European Glaucoma Society (EGS) guidelines for the benefit of Indian patients.…”

Response comments on: A deep dive into the latest European Glaucoma Society and Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society guidelines and their relevance to India

“…We thank the author(s) of the letter to the editor on our article titled “A deep dive into the latest European Glaucoma Society and Asia-Pacific Glaucoma Society guidelines and their relevance to India”. [ 1 2 ]…”