Introduction:Retinitis pigmentosa(RP) may occasionally be complicated
by glaucoma in 3% of cases, which classically is of the open angle
type. A new association may exist
between RP and acute angle closure, which has previously not been well
described. Several authors have reported chronic angle closure glaucoma coexisting
with RP or its variants. There
have been no reports of the occurrence of both RP and acute angle closure in
normal-sized eyes, although one report mentions this association in a patient
with nanophthalmos.
Methods:Retrospective case series.
Results:We report a series of 6 ethnic Chinese patients with clinical RP
who had each suffered an acute angle closure attack. All the patients
had normal axial lengths.
One patient had a clinically evident subluxated
crystalline lens leading to secondary angle closure. Unusually in this
series, 4 of the 6 patients were male, and of note, all were relatively
young. This is in contrast
to the usual profile of acute angle closure
patients who tend to be elderly females.
Conclusion:Acute angle closure and RP may have a stronger association
than previously thought, and angle closure in this group may be due to a
different mechanism
from that acting in the usual group of elderly oriental female subjects. Further study into this association is
indicated, and a genetic linkage between the 2 diseases may be a
possibility. This linkage may only
be established when the genes for these diseases are identified.