International Study of Childhood Glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose: To ascertain the types of childhood glaucoma managed at major international centers, current clinical practice, and intraocular pressure (IOP) control and visual acuity (VA) outcomes.

Design: Prospective, multicenter, consecutive case series.

Participants: All children with newly diagnosed glaucoma in at least 1 eye who fulfilled the Childhood Glaucoma Research Network (CGRN) definition of childhood glaucoma were recruited over a 1-year period with the aim of 18 months follow up.

Methods: Demographic, clinical, management data (including complications), and outcomes (IOP and VA) were entered in a secure online database. All cases included in the outcome analysis had a minimum of 6 months follow-up.

Main outcome measures: The management of childhood glaucoma, IOP control, and VA outcomes.

Results: A total of 441 children (691 eyes) with newly diagnosed glaucoma were enrolled from 17 international centers. Approximately 60% of patients came from 2 centers in India; however, 47.5% of Indian patients had no or less than 6 months of follow-up outcome data from diagnosis. Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) was the most common diagnosis (45.4%, n = 314 eyes). There was a statistically significant association between diagnosis and ethnicity/race (P < 0.001), with PCG more frequent in nonwhite patients, glaucoma associated with acquired conditions more frequent in South Asian patients, and glaucoma after cataract surgery more frequent in white patients. The initial surgical procedure of choice for eyes with PCG significantly differed by country. Angle surgery alone was first line in centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Israel (Group 1), whereas combined trabeculotomy-trabeculectomy was the first-line procedure for PCG in centers in India and Ghana (Group 2). There was no significant difference in IOP control nor VA between the 2 groups.

Conclusions: The most common diagnoses in this international study of children with newly diagnosed glaucoma in order of frequency were PCG, glaucoma after congenital idiopathic cataract surgery, and glaucoma associated with trauma. Indian children had a disproportionately high loss to follow-up rate. Despite international differences in the surgical approach to PCG, there was no statistically significant difference in IOP or VA outcomes. We hope the results of this study will inform key areas of future international, collaborative clinical research in childhood glaucoma.