RESEARCH ARTICLE
Intraocular Pressure: Does it Measure Up?
M. Roy Wilson* , Kuldev Singh
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2006Volume: 3
First Page: 32
Last Page: 37
Publisher ID: TOOPHTJ-3-32
DOI: 10.2174/1874364100903010032
Article History:
Received Date: 12/12/2008Revision Received Date: 29/1/2009
Acceptance Date: 13/2/2009
Electronic publication date: 17 /9/2006
Collection year: 2009
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The relationship between intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma is complex and not fully understood. We question the validity of several claims relating to the IOP-glaucoma relationship: (1) that 12 mm Hg is an important target in IOP control; (2) that IOP variability is an important risk factor for glaucoma progression; and (3) that every millimeter of mercury of IOP lowering reduces the risk of glaucoma progression by some specific percentage amount. Further, IOP is generally accepted to be an important – if not most important – risk factor for glaucoma development and progression. Using measures of treatment effect – absolute risk reduction, relative risk, and relative risk reduction – we compare the strength of IOP as a risk factor to the strength of a cardiac risk factor in cardiovascular disease.
