Disc haemorrhages and glaucoma in a general ophthalmic practice

The composition of the clientele from an ophthalmological practitioner's office is described with special reference to the occurrence of glaucoma and disc haemorrhages (h in singular; hh in plural). This study could not be planned as an epidemiological survey and gives no clue to sensitivity or specificity of hh in glaucoma. During a period of about 10 years ending with 1986 there were 731 patients with h and/or glaucoma. When detected, 185 patients had h but no glaucoma, 33 had both h and glaucoma and 513 had glaucoma but no h. During the follow-up period hh were detected in 83 cases of glaucoma, and glaucoma developed in 27 cases with hh. The detection rate of hh among glaucoma was low but steady, indicating that hh may occur at any stage of the glaucoma process. This study shows no predilection for hh in cases with general hypertension or diabetes, nor is the frequency of hh among pseudoexfoliation cases significantly lower than among cases without this stigma.