Glaucoma is probably not useful as a red flag for amyloidosis

Abstract

Purpose. Transthyretin is produced in the retina and approximately one quarter of patients with variant transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) develop ocular involvement. Glaucoma is the most important ocular manifestation, leading to rapid loss of vision. The usefulness of glaucoma as a red flag for cardiac amyloidosis is unknown. Materials and Methods. On a national scale, we investigated the association between glaucoma and development of amyloidosis, compared to an age- and sex-matched population from the general population. Results. The study population included 365,496 subjects (1:1 ratio). Adjusted Cox-models showed no significant association between glaucoma and future diagnosis of amyloidosis (hazard ratio: 1.16 [0.80–1.70], p = .44). Conclusion. We conclude that while ocular involvement is a possible early manifestation of ATTRv, nationwide data suggest that glaucoma is probably not useful as a red flag for cardiac amyloidosis.

Keywords:

• Cardiac amyloidosis
• glaucoma
• red flag
• epidemiology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)

Additional information

Funding

Oscar Westin is supported by an independent research grant from “Erik og Susanna Olesens Almenvelgørende Fond”.