Intraocular Pressure Fluctuations and the Role of the Valsalva Maneuver in Young Professional Musicians

(1) To determine whether intraocular pressure (IOP) fluctuations while playing musical instruments is specific to the instrument type; (2) to investigate the role of the Valsalva maneuver as an underlying mechanism; and (3) to evaluate relationships between IOP values and demographic and environmental factors.

Cross-sectional study.

Sixty-five musicians were enrolled. Of these, 2 were excluded due to glaucoma history and intolerance to IOP measurements. The final sample consisted of 63 young professional musicians (34 wind instrumentalists and 29 nonwind instrumentalists).

Participants underwent tonometry (iCare IC100) and otoscopy (Dino-Lite Basic EarScope) and completed a self-administered questionnaire on demographic and environmental factors. Tonometry and otoscopy procedures were performed simultaneously at 4 time points: before playing, while playing a low-pitched note and a high-pitched note, and after playing.

Intraocular pressure and tympanic membrane movement.

No differences in IOP were observed between wind and nonwind instrumentalists at baseline, during low-pitch playing, or after playing (Mann-Whitney U test, all P ≥ 0.052). However, IOP differed while high-pitch playing (Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.007), with both high- and low-resistance wind instrumentalists showing higher IOP than nonwind instrumentalists (Mann-Whitney U test, both P ≤ 0.041). Intraocular pressure change relative to baseline (ΔIOP) similarly revealed differences during high-pitch playing and additionally detected differences during low-pitch playing (Mann-Whitney U test, both P ≤ 0.025). Within the wind category, no differences in IOP were found between high- and low-resistance (Mann-Whitney U test, all P ≥ 0.323), and the same pattern was observed for ΔIOP (Mann-Whitney U test, all P ≥ 0.112). The Valsalva maneuver was not detected for any instrument or under any measurement conditions. In addition, no relationships were found with demographic or environmental factors and IOP fluctuations (Pearson's or Spearman's correlation, all P ≥ 0.273), although baseline IOP positively correlated with age at which wind instrumentalists began playing their instrument (Pearson's correlation, r = 0.348, P = 0.048).

Intraocular pressure fluctuations during musical instrument performance occur specifically in wind instrumentalists (both low- and high-resistance), and are not due to involuntary Valsalva maneuvers during playing. Moreover, basal IOP correlated with age of instrument debut in wind instrumentalists, whereas no other demographic or environmental factors related to IOP measurements or its fluctuations.

The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.