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Prevention of visual field defect progression with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in eyes with normal-tension glaucoma.

Hirooka K, Baba T, Fujimura T, Shiraga F

Department of Ophthalmology, Kagawa University Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa, Japan. kazuyk@med.kagawa-u.ac.jp

PURPOSE: To report the effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor on visual field changes in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). DESIGN: Retrospective observational case series. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed a total of 38 patients with NTG. Control subjects had no previous history of hypertension. NTG hypertension patients were divided into two groups, those receiving ACE inhibitor and those receiving other antihypertensive drug treatments. HfaFiles 5, an analytical program for the Humphrey Field Analyzer, was used to calculate the slope for the mean deviation (MD) change per year. RESULTS: In the ACE inhibitor-treated group, the mean MD change per year was 0.48 +/- 0.19 dB, in control subjects was -0.38 +/- 0.23 dB, and in the other antihypertensive drug-treated group was -0.50 +/- 0.39 dB. CONCLUSIONS: Although the present study is retrospective and the sample size is small, ACE inhibitor might have a favorable effect on the visual field in patients with NTG in this small study.

Published 28 August 2006 in Am J Ophthalmol, 142(3): 523-5.
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