Aim: To determine the prevalence of glaucoma in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.
Design: Cross-sectional case series.
Participants: One hundred patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea.
Testing: Within 48 h of the polysomnographic diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea, patients underwent the following tests: intraocular pressure, gonioscopy, automated perimetry, stereoscopic biomicroscopy, and fundascopic assessment for the presence of glaucomatous optic nerve changes.
Main outcome measures: The prevalence of glaucoma in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea and the associations between patient characteristics and both glaucoma and intraocular pressure.
Results: Glaucoma was diagnosed in 27 of 100 patients yielding an estimated prevalence of 27% (95% CI 19-37%). The presence of glaucoma did not correlate with sex, body mass index (BMI), or AHI, but did appear to be associated with age (P=0.014). There was no evidence of a relationship between intraocular pressure and either the apnoea plus hypopnoea index or age.
Conclusion: The prevalence of glaucoma in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea is an estimated 27%. Sex, age, body mass index or apnoea plus hypopnoea index are not factors influencing the presence of glaucoma in this population of patients.