Long-term outcomes after acute primary angle closure
Reviewed by Jonathan Chan

This is a retrospective observational study including 121 eyes of 117 consecutive patients with acute primary angle closure (APAC) over a four-year period, between 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014. Seventy-three percent had achieved visual acuities of ≥ 6/12, 15% (17 eyes) had severe visual impairment, of which 6.6% (eight eyes) were due to glaucoma. Delayed presentation was associated with a higher need for further medical treatment (OR 0.18, p=0.03). Patients who underwent phacoemulsification were at lower risk of having blindness (OR 0.18, p=0.01), having elevated IOP (OR 0.1, p=0.02) or requiring further medical treatment (OR 0.34, p=0.04). Older age (OR 1.26, p<0.01) was associated with worse visual outcomes. The authors concluded that phacoemulsification intervention in the treatment algorithm is protective against blindness compared with those patients in the cohort who did not have the lens surgery.

Long-term outcomes after acute primary angle closure: case series from Moorfields Eye Hospital, UK.
Hamid S, Matarazzo F, Sun Z, et al.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
2024;108(12):1659–64.