Editorial maio 02, 2024 maio 02, 2024

24-hour intraocular pressure monitoring: past, present, and future

DOI: 10.37039/1982.8551.20240022

HISTORY

Richard Banister (1622) was the first to associate the loss of vision by glaucoma with high levels of IOP.⁽⁾ Adolph Weber (1855) was the first to establish the concept of glaucoma as an optic neuropathy.⁽⁾ In 1864, eserine and physostigmine (miotics) were introduced as the first drugs extracted from a plant used to treat the progression of glaucoma.⁽⁾ It is well known that elevated or uncontrolled IOP cause the excavation of the optic disc (glaucomatous excavation) and visual field (VF) loss. Since 1996, optic neuropathy and VF loss characterize the manifest glaucoma.^(,) However, some patients may have an elevated IOP without VF defect or retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss.⁽⁾ Others may present pre-perimetric glaucoma characterized by RNFL loss detected by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the absence of VF defect.⁽⁾ Until 1955, there were no standardized tonometer in Europe.⁽⁾ Since Leydhecker’s investigations, it has been known that there is an interval of around 5 to 10 years between early detection of POAG and the first signs of optic neuropathy (pre-perimetric Glaucoma) or, even later, of functional changes.⁽⁾ This interval represents the resistance of the optic nerve to ocular hypertension (OH). In addition, the risk of conversion to glaucoma in patients with OH decreases approximately 14% for each mmHg of IOP reduction.⁽⁾

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