This paper investigated the incidence and risk of newly diagnosed glaucoma after the initiation of maintenance dialysis in Taiwan. A case-control study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan. There were 3949 patients with dialysis in the study group and 78,980 non-dialysis subjects matched by age and sex in the comparison group. The incidence of newly diagnosed glaucoma after the initiation of maintenance dialysis was analyzed based on the diagnostic code for glaucoma. Patients with dialysis had a higher risk of glaucoma (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 1.270; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.035-1.560) than patients without dialysis. The incidence rate of glaucoma was 8.18 per 10,000 person months in the dialysis group, which was higher than that in the non-dialysis group (5.01 per 10,000 person months). Patients with dialysis exhibited a significantly higher risk of angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) (aHR: 1.550; 95% CI: 1.074-2.239). In contrast, there was no significant risk of developing open-angle glaucoma or normal-tension glaucoma in dialysis patients. Our data suggest that dialysis patients are more susceptible to ACG. Regular ophthalmic examinations may be useful in patients with dialysis to identify high-risk individuals with glaucoma, and preventive measures can be applied to avoid permanent vision loss as soon as intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation is identified.
Keywords: end-stage renal disease; hemodialysis; intraocular pressure.