A retrospective study of the association between Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy and glaucoma

The goal of this study was to examine a possible clinical association between Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy (FED) and glaucoma suspect (GS)/ocular hypertension (OHT) or open angle glaucoma (OAG).

A retrospective chart review was carried out using data from electronic medical records and paper records from a private ophthalmology clinic in Kansas City, MO, USA. The review included 257 patients with FED and 584 randomly selected controls with no history of endothelial dystrophy. Binomial and multinomial regression using generalized estimating equations was used to create models to examine the correlation between FED diagnosis/severity and glaucoma diagnosis/type of glaucoma adjusted for age, sex, presence of diabetes, number of guttae, and intraocular pressure (IOP).

No statistically significant increase in prevalence of either OHT or GS/OHT compared to controls was observed (P>0.3). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between increasing age and IOP with increased glaucoma prevalence (P<0.05). There was also a statistically significant positive correlation between increasing age, IOP and male sex, with increased prevalence of the more severe glaucoma subtype of OAG versus GS/OHT and controls (P<0.05). Increasing severity of FED divided into category 1 and 2 based upon number of guttae was not associated with any significant increase in glaucoma prevalence (P>0.09), and was actually significantly negatively correlated to worsening glaucoma subtype for category 2 FED patients (P<0.05). Diabetes was not associated with the prevalence of either glaucoma or its subtypes of GS/OHT or OAG.

The correlation between FED and glaucoma has been controversial. This study showed no statistically significant association between FED and glaucoma by prevalence or severity of FED as measured by corneal guttae. Further study is needed to determine if a connection between FED and glaucoma does exist, and if so, whether this relationship may impact earlier the detection and treatment of disease.