Asymmetry of habitual 24-hour intraocular pressure rhythm in glaucoma patients.

PURPOSE: To examine the strength of association between 24-hour rhythms of habitual IOP in the paired eyes of healthy individuals and glaucoma patients.
METHODS: Laboratory records of 24-hour habitual IOP from 38 younger healthy individuals, 53 older healthy individuals, and 41 untreated older primary open-angle glaucoma patients were examined. Intraocular pressure was measured every 2 hours sitting during the day and supine at night using a pneumatonometer. Rhythms of 24-hour IOP in the right eye and in the left eye were estimated separately using cosinor rhythmometry. Estimated 24-hour IOP peak timing (acrophase) and estimated 24-hour IOP variation (amplitude) were compared between the paired eyes for each subject group. Strength of association was determined by the absolute time interval between paired 24-hour IOP peak timings and by the coefficient of determination (r(2)) between paired 24-hour IOP variations.
RESULTS: Mean absolute time intervals between the paired IOP peak timings were 1 hour and 33 minutes in the younger healthy group and 1 hour and 37 minutes in the older healthy group. In the older glaucoma group, the mean absolute time interval was 2 hours and 30 minutes. Coefficient of determination for the paired 24-hour IOP variations in the older glaucoma group was 0.343, significantly lower than the coefficients of determination in the younger healthy group (0.571) and the older healthy group (0.646).
CONCLUSIONS: The strength of association between the paired 24-hour rhythms of habitual IOP is significantly weaker in glaucoma patients than in healthy individuals. Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.