Angle recess area decreases with age in normal Japanese

Purpose: To investigate prospectively the relationships between anterior ch amber angle configuration and refractive error, axial length, age, and body height in the Japanese. Methods: We studied 65 eyes of 65 subjects (30 men, 35 women) who were eith er patients at the Ophthalmolagy Department of Mie University or volunteers . The 65 subjects underwent a complete eye examination, A-scan biometry, an d ultrasound biomicroscopy. Images were exported to an IBM-compatible perso nal computer in PCX format. The angle recess area (ARA) was measured using a software program of our own design. Results: The ARA decreased with age in all quadrants of all eyes. In older individuals, the angle in the superior quadrant was significantly narrower than in the other quadrants. The ARA correlated directly with anterior cham ber depth (P < .001), axial length (P < .001), and body height (P = .003), and inversely with age (P < .001) and refractive error (P = .003) in pairwi se analysis. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant association betwe en ARA and anterior chamber depth (P < .001), axial length (P = .016), and younger age (P = .043). Conclusions: The anterior chamber area narrows with age, especially in the superior quadrant. Narrowing of the angle in Japanese is associated with ol der age, shorter axial length, and shallower anterior chamber depth. We hyp othesize that because of the increasing prevalence of axial myopia in young er Japanese, angle-closure glaucoma could become less common Japan in the f uture. (C) 2000 Japanese Ophthalmological Society.