Arterial stiffness and PEX
Reviewed by Lorraine North

The authors describe a study of 25 newly diagnosed patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEX) and 25 controls to evaluate carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) values. The CF-PWV was assessed using a noninvasive device by measuring the pulse transmit time and the distance between two recording sites conducted by a single experienced cardiologist. The study showed that patients with PEX had higher CF-PWV than did healthy individuals despite any difference between other factors such as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP) and total cholesterol that are also predictors of cardiovascular diseases. The authors found an association between PEX and increased arterial stiffness which they felt may be attributed to the accumulation of pseudoexfoliative fibrils in the arterial wall. They report that this could aid diagnosis when in doubt about PEX and could be considered a risk factor for the development of PEX glaucoma.

Systemic arterial stiffness in patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.
Türkyılmaz K, Oner V, Yüksel C, et al.
JOURNAL OF GLAUCOMA
2014;23(2):108-11.