Glaucoma and Sleep Apnoea: Is There a Link? A Review

Shandell Moore, BOrth&OphthalSc(Hons)
Linda Malesic, BOrth(Hons)PhD
Department of Clinical Vision Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Glaucoma is one of leading causes of vision loss in Australia. There are well documented and accepted risk factors associated with glaucoma such as family history, high myopia, diabetes and if an individual is of black decent. It is only since the turn of the 21st century that researchers have attempted to establish if there is a link between glaucoma and sleep apnoea and whether this too could be a risk factor in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. The cause of glaucoma and damage to the optic nerve head due to sleep apnoea remains unclear, however, it has been postulated that a decrease in optic nerve head blood flow occurs during the prolonged apneic episodes leading to ischemia, just as occurs in low tension glaucoma. This review will discuss key studies that have researched the prevalence of sleep apnoea in individuals who have glaucoma and discuss whether sleep apnoea should be considered a risk factor in the pathogenesis of glaucoma.