SILENT-MYOCARDIAL-ISCHEMIA IN GLAUCOMA AND CATARACT PATIENTS

Background: Glaucoma and cataract are multifactorial diseases. They ha ve been described to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors. M ethods: Twenty-four-hour ECG monitoring was done in 22 normal-tension glaucoma patients, 27 open-angle glaucoma patients, 25 cataract patien ts, and 20 normal controls. The frequency of silent myocardial ischemi a (SMI) as well as that of ventricular extrasystoles (VES) was evaluat ed. Results: At least one episode of significant asymptomatic ST-T seg ment depression occurred in 45% of the normal-tension glaucomas, in 25 .9% of open-angle glaucomas, in 12% of cataract patients, and in 5% of normal controls. The frequency of VES was not significantly different among the groups. Conclusions: Glaucoma, especially normal-tension gl aucoma, is significantly associated with the occurrence of episodic as ymptomatic myocardial ischemias. Cataract patients, however, had only a slightly, statistically not significantly increased frequency of bot h SMI and VES compared with normals.