Black patients have a significantly higher risk of advanced vision loss after a new diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) compared to white patients, according to a new study from New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) .
The book, published on July 25 in Translational vision Science and technology, shows that being of African descent is an independent risk factor for this drastic decline in vision, and should encourage more eye screening in this population for the early detection of glaucoma. This is the first study to use an artificial intelligence algorithm to break down visual field loss in incident glaucoma cases among US-based population groups.
The work is important because glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the United States, and primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common type. POAG is the main cause of optic nerve degeneration related to the level of pressure inside the eye, but other factors also contribute to this condition. Patients typically show few or no symptoms until the disease progresses and they experience irreversible vision loss, highlighting the need for early screening and detection of glaucoma in patient groups high risk.
“This study has huge implications for screening for glaucoma in black people, who we already knew were a population at increased risk for glaucoma,” says lead author Louis R. Pasquale, MD, FARVO, vice-president. chair of ophthalmology research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and director of the NYEE Eye and Vision Research Institute. “Screening earlier in life could significantly increase the chances of detecting glaucoma and slowing its progression before it reaches one of the advanced patterns shown in our research.”
A team of researchers analyzed nearly 210,000 participants from three population-based databases of nurses and healthcare professionals from the Nurses’ Health Study (enrolled between 1980-2018, and 1989-2019) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (enrolled between 1986 and 2018). The participants were over the age of 40 and their data was collected during comprehensive eye exams – none had glaucoma at baseline. They were followed every two years and provided updated information on their lifestyle, diet and health status, including the diagnosis of glaucoma.
In the study group, 1,946 patients developed glaucoma. The researchers analyzed their first visual field loss recording using archetype analysis, a form of artificial intelligence. The algorithm identified 14 archetypes: four representing advanced loss patterns, nine early loss and one without visual field loss.
Black patients made up 1.3% of the study, but had nearly twice the risk of early visual field loss archetypes and six times the risk of advanced field loss archetypes, compared to black patients. white patients. Asian participants, who made up 1.2% of participants, had nearly twice the risk of early visual field loss compared to white patients, but did not have a significantly higher rate of advanced patterns of field loss. visual. Hispanic patients represented 1.1% of the study population and had no increased risk of archetypes compared to white patients; however, the study showed that they were at risk of having an archetype showing initial loss near the center of their visual field. The results were controlled for a number of variables, including socioeconomics, frequency of eye exams, heart disease, diabetes and exercise.
“This study began decades ago in three cohorts of health professionals who were not as diverse as the current numbers – and if we collected more representation of people of color, the results would likely be even deeper” , adds Dr. Pasquale. “African ancestry is a risk factor for glaucoma-related blindness, and this work provides insight into why this might be the case. We suspect that why black people exhibited more advanced patterns of loss than whites is that the disease begins one to two decades earlier in the former group compared to the latter group.This underscores the importance of early detection strategies in blacks to identify glaucoma early in order to avoid visual impairment in this population.
According to Dr. Pasquale, the next step in this work is to determine the specific risk factors for the different patterns of vision loss observed in glaucoma patients, including genetic and environmental factors, in order to fully unravel the pathogenesis of glaucoma. open-angle primary.
This study was performed with collaborators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear. This work was supported by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Figure: Ethnicity as a risk factor for early and advanced vision loss archetypes
The description: The figure shows that blacks had twice the risk of early loss archetypes compared to non-Hispanic whites. Blacks had a 5x higher risk of advanced loss archetypes. The difference in increased risk for Blacks between advanced loss archetypes and early loss archetypes was also statistically significant. The insets show examples of an early loss archetype on the left and an advanced loss archetype on the right.
About Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metropolitan area, with more than 43,000 employees working in eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 laboratories, a nursing school and a leading medical and medical school. Higher Education. Mount Sinai advances health for everyone, everywhere, by addressing the most complex health challenges of our time – discovering and applying new knowledge and scientific knowledge; developing safer and more effective treatments; train the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by providing high quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, laboratories and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive healthcare solutions from birth to geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and IT while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatments. The health system includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint venture day surgery centers in the five boroughs of New York, Westchester, Long Island and Florida; and over 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by US News & World Report’s Top Hospitals, receiving a high “Honor Roll” status, and are highly ranked: #1 in Geriatrics and Top 20 in Cardiology/Cardiac Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology /gastrointestinal surgery, neurology /Neurosurgery, orthopaedics, pulmonology/lung surgery, rehabilitation and urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked #12 in ophthalmology. US News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals for Children” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital among the best in the nation in 4 out of 10 pediatric specialties. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is one of three medical schools that has stood out on several metrics: it is consistently ranked in the top 20 by US News & World Report’s “Best Medical Schools”, aligned with a U.S. News & World Report Hospital “Honor Roll”, and among the top 20 nationwide for National Institutes of Health funding and among the top 5 nationwide for many areas of basic and clinical research. Newsweek’s “World’s Best Smart Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Hospital number one in New York and among the top five in the world, and Mount Sinai Morningside in the top 20 globally.
For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
