Retinal Vessels Change in Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma: The Handan Eye Study

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. To examine the relationship between angle closure and the retinal vessel diameter in Chinese adults, we conducted Handan Eye Study (HES), a large population-based cross-sectional study, which enrolled 6830 participants >30 year-old living in 13 randomly selected villages of Yongnian County. After adjusting for age, gender, spherical equivalent (SE), diabetes and hypertension, the mean central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE, μm) was 127.1 ± 7.0 and 145.6 ± 4.4 in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG), respectively; narrower than that in normal control (156.1 ± 0.4), primary angle-closure suspect (PACS) (156.3 ± 1.1) or primary angle closure (PAC) (156.0 ± 3.4) (P = 0.001). The mean central retinal vein equivalent (CRVE, μm) was 229.0 ± 5.9 and 215.8 ± 9.5 in POAG and PACG, respectively; narrower than that in normal control (238.3 ± 0.5), PACS (241.2 ± 1.4) or PAC (242.2 ± 4.6) (P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the mean CRAE or CRVE between PACG and POAG. Compared to the normal control (0.66), the mean arterio-venous ratio (AVR) was smaller in POAG (0.64) and PACG (0.59), whereas larger in PACS (0.65) and PAC (0.67) (P = 0.003). To conclude, PACG and POAG individuals have narrower retinal arteries and veins.