Results of New Combined Analysis Concludes Patients at Risk for Glaucoma Will Benefit From Risk Assessment Tool

Las Vegas, November 15 (ots/PRNewswire) -

- New data confirm a five-year risk assessment tool will help
ophthalmologists better predict which patients have an increased risk
of developing glaucoma
- Analysis finds that patients with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP)
- along with other predictive risk factors, such older age (40+) -
are at highest risk of progressing to primary open-angle glaucoma
(POAG)
- Investigator: 'It is critical to continue to evaluate and refine
innovative, predictive models in ophthalmic medicine in order to
provide the best treatment possible for patients.'

A combined analysis of two landmark clinical glaucoma trials --
the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) and the European
Glaucoma Prevention Study (EGPS) -- confirms the benefit of a
five-year risk assessment model to help ophthalmologists better
predict which patients have an increased risk of developing glaucoma.
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world,
affecting approximately 70 million people, and can lead to blindness
if left untreated. These new data were presented this week at the
annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.

The analysis showed that patients with elevated intraocular
pressure (IOP) -- along with other predictive risk factors, such as
older age (40+) -- are at highest risk of progressing to primary
open-angle glaucoma (POAG). The results are similar to the 2005
risk-assessment model reported by Dr. Robert N. Weinreb and Dr.
Felipe A. Medeiros based on findings from the 2002 Ocular
Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS), a five-year National Eye
Institute-sponsored trial that found early intervention with
IOP-lowering medications could prevent glaucoma in at-risk patients

"It is critical to continue to evaluate and refine innovative,
predictive models in ophthalmic medicine in order to provide the best
treatment possible for patients," said Dr. Michael Kass. "We hope
this tool will become as universally adapted as predictive models
used in other therapeutic areas, such as the Framingham Study, which
provided a basis for accurate cardiac risk assessment."

"For some time we have known that if we could identify those
patients most likely to progress to glaucoma, earlier intervention
with effective treatments could help reduce the risk of vision
impairment," said Dr. Robert N. Weinreb, director of the Hamilton
Glaucoma Center and Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at the
University of California, San Diego, USA. "This new analysis provides
a larger-scale validation of breakthrough findings of the OHTS group
and reinforces to clinicians how the tool can be useful in assessing
which patients are most at risk."

The OHTS prediction model was tested on patients in the EGPS
placebo group and the two study samples from the control
(non-treated) arms were pooled to increase precision and
generalizability of a five-year predictive model for developing POAG.
The OHTS observation group contained 819 patients with a median
follow up of every six months for 6.6 years. The EGPS placebo group
contained 500 patients with a median follow up of every six months
for 4.8 years.

"We know that awareness of these predictors, particularly elevated
intraocular pressure, and central corneal thickness, is critical in
treating and potentially preventing damage to the optic nerve caused
by glaucoma progression," said Professor Stefano Miglior, director of
the Department of Ophthalmology, Policlinico di Monza, University of
Milan Bicocca, Italy, and Chairman of EGPS. "The large-scale
validation, which includes a European patient population for the
first time, reinforces the consensus about the importance of informed
dialogue between physicians and patients on how often eye
examinations are needed and when it might be appropriate to initiate
treatment."

The research was supported by grants from Pfizer Inc, the National
Eye Institute and the National Center for Minority Health and Health
Disparities, National Institutes of Health, the European Commission
and Research to Prevent Blindness and Merck Research Laboratories.

Pfizer's current product line includes the most prescribed
treatment to lower elevated eye pressure in patients with ocular
hypertension (abnormally high eye pressure) or open-angle glaucoma.
In collaboration with (OSI) Eyetech, the division also includes a
treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Web site: http://www.pfizer.com

ots Originaltext: Pfizer Inc.
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

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