Biomaterial Database

Glaucoma in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. 1982

R F Dethlefs

A retrospective study was carried out, of 48 patients with glaucoma, who presented over a 2 year period at Port Moresby General Hospital. No cases of chronic open angle glaucoma or acute angle closure glaucoma with shallow anterior chamber were found in the 37 Papua New Guinean patients. Trauma was the most common cause of glaucoma in this group particularly in males. Glaucoma also occurred in association with the exfoliative syndrome and secondary to anterior uveitis. All non-Papuan New Guineans retained some vision in both eyes while 23 of the Papua New Guineans had no perception of light in one eye, which is a reflection of the type of glaucoma present in this group, and their failure to obtain early medical care.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010219	Papua New Guinea	A country consisting of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and adjacent islands, including New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and New Hanover in the Bismarck Archipelago; Bougainville and Buka in the northern Solomon Islands; the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands; Woodlark (Murua) Island; and the Louisiade Archipelago. It became independent on September 16, 1975. Formerly, the southern part was the Australian Territory of Papua, and the northern part was the UN Trust Territory of New Guinea, administered by Australia. They were administratively merged in 1949 and named Papua and New Guinea, and renamed Papua New Guinea in 1971.	New Guinea, East,New Guinea, Papua
D005901	Glaucoma	An ocular disease, occurring in many forms, having as its primary characteristics an unstable or a sustained increase in the intraocular pressure which the eye cannot withstand without damage to its structure or impairment of its function. The consequences of the increased pressure may be manifested in a variety of symptoms, depending upon type and severity, such as excavation of the optic disk, hardness of the eyeball, corneal anesthesia, reduced visual acuity, seeing of colored halos around lights, disturbed dark adaptation, visual field defects, and headaches. (Dictionary of Visual Science, 4th ed)	Glaucomas
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189	Retrospective Studies	Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.	Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective