Detecting glaucoma in myopia using novel perimetry
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Detecting glaucoma in myopia using novel perimetry probing alterations in spatiotemporal summation
IRAS ID
342674
Contact name
Pádraig J Mulholland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness, affecting 80 million people worldwide. It is characterised by a progressive degeneration of neurons (retinal ganglion cells [RGC]), which transmit visual information to the brain. Early disease detection and treatment are crucial to avoid permanent vision loss.
Myopia, or short-sightedness, is a refractive condition in which the eye's length is too great for its optical power. Its prevalence is increasing rapidly, with 50% of the global population estimated to be short-sighted by 2050. Short-sighted people (myopes) are at increased risk of developing glaucoma. However, detecting glaucoma in myopes is challenging due to changes in the structure and function of the myopic eye mimicking those seen in glaucoma (including a reduced RGC density). Consequently, myopes can often suffer from missed glaucoma diagnoses and/or conversely unnecessary referral, monitoring and over treatment. Given the aging and increasingly myopic population, there is an urgent need for better clinical strategies to detect glaucoma in myopia.
Perimetry, the clinical method for identifying visual field (side vision) loss in glaucoma, involves the presentation of light spots of fixed area and varying brightness to the eye. However, this test struggles to distinguish between RGC damage in glaucoma and RGC density changes in myopia. Previous work indicates that the visual system's method of collecting light over time (temporal summation) differs between glaucoma and myopia. This suggests that a perimetry test using shorter-duration stimuli to probe for these differences may be better able to detect glaucoma in myopia.
This project aims to determine if a novel perimetry test designed to detect differences in light collection over space and time (spatial and temporal summation) can better detect glaucoma in myopes. This novel test will be compared to current clinical tests in glaucoma patients and age-similar healthy controls, both with and without myopia.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/WM/0255
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion