Novel Association of Smaller Anterior Chamber Width with Angle Closure in Singaporeans

Purpose: To describe variations in anterior chamber width (ACW) and investigate its association with the presence of narrow angles.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: We recruited 2047 subjects aged 50 years or more from a community polyclinic and 111 subjects with primary angle closure (PAC) or primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) from an eye hospital in Singapore.

Methods: All participants underwent gonioscopy, anterior chamber depth (ACD) and axial length (AL) measurement (IOLMaster; Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany), and anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT, Visante, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA). Customized software was used to measure the ACW, defined as the distance between the scleral spurs in the horizontal (nasal-temporal) axis of AS-OCT scans. An eye was deemed to have narrow angles if the posterior trabecular meshwork was not visible for at least 180 degrees on non-indentation gonioscopy with the eye in the primary position.

Main Outcome Measures: Anterior chamber width and narrow angles.

Results: Data on 1465 community-based subjects were available for analysis. Anterior chamber width was significantly smaller in women compared with men (11.70 mm vs. 11.81 mm, respectively, P<0.001) and decreased significantly with age (P for trend <0.001). Significant predictors of smaller ACW were lower educational level, lower body mass index, shorter AL, shallower ACD, and Chinese race. Of the 1465 subjects, 315 (21.5%) had narrow angles on gonioscopy. Mean ACW was smaller in eyes with narrow angles compared with those without narrow angles (11.60 mm vs. 11.80 mm, P<0.001). The age- and gender-adjusted odds ratio for the highest quartile compared with the lower 3 quartiles of ACW with the presence of narrow angles was 3.4 (95% confidence interval, 2.3-5.0; P for trend <0.001). Hospital-based subjects with PAC/PACG had even smaller ACW than community subjects with narrow angles (11.33 mm vs. 11.60 mm, P<0.001).

Conclusions: In this cross-sectional study, ACW was smaller in women, Chinese persons, and older persons, and was associated with narrow angles in 2 different study populations. These data suggest that a smaller ACW may represent a novel risk indicator for angle closure.