Racial Differences in Treating Vision Disorders

Study Alerts Eye Doctors of Racial Differences in Treating Vision Disorders

Blacks are more likely to lose vision due to increased pressure in the brain than other races, reports an Emory Eye Center researcher in the March 11, 2008 issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology

The pressure, called idiopathic intracranial hypertension, was identified as causing the disorder, says Beau Bruce, MD, a neuro-ophthalmology fellow at the Emory University School of Medicine and lead researcher for the study.

"The racial factor is purely just that," says Dr. Bruce. "Other factors such as differences in diagnosis, treatment or care don't seem to matter. We found that intracranial hypertension clearly affects black people more aggressively. This would tell us that ophthalmologists and others treating blacks need to monitor their vision very closely."

Timothy W. Olsen, MD, director of Emory Eye Center, says, "Dr. Bruce and colleagues have discovered an interesting association that warrants further investigation. Identification of the key risk factors certainly help clinicians in patient management."

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension has no known cause. Those affected may experience headache, ringing in the ears and vision problems. Blurriness and double vision are typical. This disease is most common in young, obese black women.

Seventeen years of records at Emory Eye Center were reviewed for the study. All patients in the study had intracranial hypertension. Of the 450 patients, 197 were black, 246 were white, five were Hispanic and two were Asian. The black patients were 3.5 times more likely to end of up severe vision loss in at least one eye. Further, they were five times more likely to become legally blind than the non-black patients.

Dr. Bruce notes that the black patients in his study did have other risk factors including weight (higher body mass index), higher frequency of low blood iron and higher pressures around the brain than other study participants. Vision loss in blacks could be explained somewhat by those factors, he says.

Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. and the National Institutes of Health helped fund the study.

About Emory Eye Center - The Department of Ophthalmology and Emory Eye Center have a mission to conduct pioneering research into blinding eye diseases, to educate and train eye professionals, and to provide excellent patient care. The Department includes 23 ophthalmologists, seven optometrists, nine basic scientists, 11 post-doctoral fellows, and nine researchers in other Emory departments who hold joint appointments in the Department of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmology research is supported by $6 million in NIH funding. The Department has remained in the top rankings by U.S. News & World Report for the 11 years the magazine has held a ranking for Ophthalmology. For more information visit Emory Eye Center

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