Purpose: To determine glaucoma epidemiology in a region of southern Brazil having as a group of study the population of Piraquara city -- PR (patients over 40 years old), and analyzing the importance of the screening examination. Methods: A total of 1953 patients were screened in the Glaucoma Project (first phase) between June 1999 to December 2000. The screening process included a specific interview, examination of anterior chamber, applanation tonometry and fundoscopy. The patients screened as glaucoma suspects were submitted to a complete ophthalmologic examination at the Hospital das Clínicas -- UFPR. Results: Of the 1953 screened patients, 282 were classified as glaucoma suspects, but only 184 returned for the complete ophthalmologic examination. There were 73 confirmed cases of chronic open angle glaucoma; 35 (1.79%) high-tension glaucoma cases and 38 (1.95%) patients with normal tension glaucoma, and other 6 cases of secondary glaucoma or angle closure glaucoma. In both groups we determined gender, age and race distributions; the prevalence of diabetic and systemic hypertense population; and the IOP and CCT (central corneal thickness) averages, observing a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of high-tension glaucoma and normal tension glaucoma was similar in this population sample, and this alerted us to the fact that fundoscopy is a very important examination in detecting glaucomatous patients.
Glaucoma; Open angle glaucoma; Glaucoma; Open angle glaucoma; Fundus oculi; Triage
