The Dimensions of Eyes with Chronic Angle-closure Glaucoma

The measurement of eyes with primary angle-closure glaucoma has been comprehensively documented in people of European ethnic origin. In comparison, few biometric studies have examined the relationship of one intraocular structure to another in people of Oriental or African ethnic background with primary angle-closure glaucoma. To determine the ocular characteristics of people with this ethnic background suffering from chronic angleclosure glacoma, both eyes of 46 patients with chronic angle-closure glaucoma were measured by contact A-scan ultrasonography, and the measurements were compared with those found in two groups of 23 matched normals. The correlation between the measurements obtained in the right and left eyes in each group was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Although the mean axial length was less (22.43 mm vs. 23.17 and 23.25 mm, p = 0.0001), the mean anterior chamber depth shallower (2.48 mm vs. 2.80 and 2.81 mm, p < 0.001). and the mean "relative lens position'' more anterior in eyes with chronic angle-closure glaucoma compared with normal, the mean lens thickness in all three groups was similar (4.73 mm). These measurements are significantly different from those reported in other ethnic groups. In comparison with the previously reported findings in Europeans, an anterior lens position without significant lens enlargement is responsible for the crowded anterior segment in our patients with chronic angle-closure glaucoma.