Nationwide Glaucoma incidence in end stage renal disease patients and kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

Glaucoma shares common risk factors with chronic kidney disease (CKD) but previous cross-sectional studies have demonstrated discrepancies in the risk of glaucoma in CKD patients. This study enrolled kidney transplantation recipients (KTRs) (n=10,955), end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients (n=10,955) and healthy controls (n=10,955) from National Health Insurance Service database of the Republic of Korea. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to calculate the hazard ratios (HR) for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) incidences. The incidence of POAG was higher in ESRD patients (3.36/1,000 person-years, P<0.0001) and KTRs (3.22 /1,000 person-years, P<0.0001), than in healthy controls (1.20/1,000 person-years). However, POAG risk showed no significant increase in either ESRD patients (P=0.07) or KTRs (P=0.08) when adjusted for the confounding factors. The incidence of PACG was significantly higher in ESRD patients (0.41/1,000 person-years) than in healthy controls (0.14/1,000 person-years, P=0.008). The PACG incidence was significantly lower in KTRs than in ESRD patients (HR=0.35, P=0.015). In conclusion, this nationwide cohort study demonstrated that kidney transplantation can reduce the risk of PACG but not POAG in ESRD patients.