Prevalence and etiology of glaucoma emergencies during coronavirus disease-2019 lockdown at a tertiary eye center in India

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to report the prevalence and etiology of emergencies in glaucoma during coronavirus disease-2019 lockdown at a tertiary eye care center in India. Materials and Methods: Retrospective case study. Patients who presented with acute onset of pain, redness, blurred vision, and intraocular pressure (IOP) >21 mm Hg between March 25 and May 3, 2020 were included in the study and those who came for scheduled follow-up visit were excluded from the study. Results: Two hundred and ninety-four patients were seen in glaucoma services during the study, of which 43 patients (eyes) met the inclusion criteria. Mean age of the study population was 56.4 ± 16.7 years. Mean visual acuity at presentation was 4/60 and mean IOP was 37.9 ± 10.5 mm Hg. Most common etiology for seeking emergency glaucoma care was secondary glaucoma post vitreoretinal surgery (27.9%), followed by lens-induced glaucoma (25.5%), neovascular glaucoma (11.6%), primary angle closure disease (9.3%) of which 4.6% had acute primary angle closure, inflammatory glaucoma (9.3%), closed globe injury (6.9%), and others (9.3%). 37% of eyes underwent surgery, 5% eyes underwent laser and 58% eyes were treated medically. Conclusions: The prevalence of emergency in glaucoma was 14.6% during the lockdown. Secondary glaucoma constitutes 88.4% and primary glaucoma constitutes only 11.6% of emergency in glaucoma.