Primary acute angle closure: long-term clinical outcomes over a 10-year period in the Chinese population

Abstract

To investigate long-term clinical outcomes after acute angle closure in the Chinese population. A 10-year retrospective review of primary acute angle closure in Hong Kong Chinese to document patient demographics, treatment, and pre- and post-acute angle closure intraocular pressure (IOP) and visual acuity (VA). The year of attack was correlated with the timing of laser, last VA and IOP, and the number of anti-glaucoma eye drops. In 210 eyes (200 patients), 10 % had a simultaneous bilateral acute angle closure. VA improvement was noted in 68.6 % of eyes whilst 11.4 % were blinded. At 3.7 ± 2.4 years of follow-up, 49.5 % had IOP <21 mmHg with medication or surgery, 41.9 % needed anti-glaucoma eye drops, and 13.8 % had undergone trabeculectomy. The older the year of attack, the poorer the VA (r = 0.2, p = 0.03) and the longer the laser wait time (r = 0.3, p < 0.0001). VA outcome and laser promptness in acute angle closure has improved over the years. At 4 years after the attack, 50 % had normal IOP, 69 % had improved VA but 11 % were blinded.