Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of visual fields in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) treated with gingko biloba.
Methods: Thirty POAG patients treated for at least six months with extract of gingko biloba 80mg/day were retrospectively matched by age, IOP, mean visual-field defect (Humphrey MD) and follow-up time, with 25 controls selected from 1500 POAG patients. All patients had IOP under treatment less than 21mmHg in diurnal tension curve, initial VA і 20/50, and previous experience with automated perimetry. The MD and CPSD indexes of visual fields were compared between the two groups. The evolution of the MD and CPSD indexes was categorized as improvement, stability or aggravation based on a change of at least 2dB compared with baseline.
Results: The follow-up period of patients ranged from 7 to 17 months (mean ± SD: 12 ± 3 months). The mean ± SD of the IOP was 12.1 ± 2.5mmHg and 12.7 ± 2.6mmHg for gingko biloba and control groups, respectively (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between gingko biloba and control groups in the final values of MD and CPSD as well as in the variation of these indexes (p>0.05, Mann-Whitney U Test) (Table). No significant difference in improvement, stability or aggravation rates was found between the two groups.
Conclusion: We were unable to find any significant favorable effect of gingko biloba on the outcome of MD and CPSD indexes of visual fields of POAG patients in this time of follow-up.