Rheumatoid arthritis tied to increased risk of developing primary open-angle glaucoma

Key clinical point: Patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were at a higher risk of developing primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) compared with matched control participants, with risk being evident within 2 years after RA diagnosis and among patients aged ≥75 years.

Major finding: Compared with matched control participants, patients with incident RA were 1.44 times more likely to develop POAG (hazard ratio [HR] 1.44; 95% CI 1.13-1.84), which was predominantly observed within 2 years of RA diagnosis (HR 1.83; 95% CI 1.28-2.61) and in patients aged ≥75 years (HR 2.12;95% CI 1.34-3.35).

Study details: This was a retrospective, nationwide cohort study including 2049 patients with seropositive RA who were propensity score-matched with 8196 control participants without RA.

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Disclosures: This study was partly supported by the publication fee from the Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University. No conflicts of interest were declared.

Source: Kim SH et al. Development of open-angle glaucoma in adults with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis in Korea. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e223345 (Mar 21). Doi:  10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.3345