05 [20/400] and/or central VF <10 degrees), we defined the following 4 categories of low vision and blindness with glaucoma as the main cause: (1) unilateral low vision: patients with low vision in 1 eye; (2) bilateral Selleckchem Z-VAD-FMK low vision: patients with low vision in the best eye; (3) unilateral blindness: patients blind in 1 eye; (4) bilateral blindness: patients with both eyes blind, mainly
caused by glaucoma in at least 1 eye. The cause of visual disability was determined by reviewing patient charts and analyzing the information in relation to the VF appearance. In most patients the main reason for visual disability was clear. In a few eyes it was impossible to determine a single cause of visual disability. Then we recorded a combination of causes. The date of the glaucoma diagnosis was set to the date of the first reliable VF showing a glaucomatous defect. The time for low vision or blindness was the first visit when the Humphrey field was centrally constricted to less than 20 degrees or 10 degrees, respectively, or when VA was permanently reduced to below 0.3 (20/60) or 0.05 (20/400), respectively.
Even in those few patients who had missed many consecutive visits during follow-up, all available data on visual function were analyzed as of the date from the next visit. Time with glaucoma blindness and the final outcomes in terms of low vision and blindness from glaucoma were determined in all included patients. Cell Cycle inhibitor Cumulative incidence of blindness and time with diagnosed SB-3CT glaucoma were calculated in the Data at Diagnosis group. We chose to calculate cumulative incidences with a competing risk method.13 Contrary to
the Kaplan-Meier method, the competing risk method does not “censor” individuals with competing risks. Thus, the probability of an event-free survival calculated with the competing risk method is a conditional probability, which takes both the event and the competing risks into account. In our analysis, blindness attributable to reasons other than glaucoma or death without blindness were modeled as competing risk events. Annual incidence rates were calculated setting all “study” events (blindness attributable to glaucoma) and all competing events to the time point just prior to the end of the annual period. In addition, cumulative incidences for blindness in at least 1 eye and bilateral blindness were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method14 in order to be able to compare our results with previously published results. The Pearson χ2 test was used to compare the rates of low vision and blindness in the Data at Diagnosis and Follow-up Only groups. All statistical calculations were performed with SPSS version 19.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Statistical significance was set to P < .05. Five hundred and ninety-two of 662 patients (89.4%) with manifest glaucoma with visual field loss met the inclusion criteria (Figure 2). Three hundred and sixty-seven (62.
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