THEORY AND METHOD

Primary open angle glaucoma. The need for a consensus case definition

M Kroese, H Burton

Public Health Genetics Unit, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Mark Kroese, Public Health Genetics Unit, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Worts Causeway, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK;
markk{at}srl.cam.ac.uk

Primary open angle glaucoma is an important cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United Kingdom. This paper gives a brief overview of the condition and its management. It presents evidence of the continued absence of a consensus case definition for this condition. This has resulted in considerable uncertainty about what is diagnosed and treated as primary open angle glaucoma. The important negative effects of this situation are outlined. These include the impact on the person wrongly diagnosed with the condition, the uncertainties both for commissioning and provision of clinical healthcare services, and the lack of a firm basis for research into the condition. It is argued that there is an urgent need to resolve this problem to improve the health of the population.

Keywords: glaucoma; case definition

Abbreviations: POAG, primary open angle glaucoma; NTG, normal tension glaucoma

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