Delayed follow‐up of glaucoma patients due to COVID‐19 pandemic – impact on disease progression

Purpose To determine the impact of delayed follow‐up on the disease course in patients with glaucoma. Methods A retrospective case series of 224 glaucoma patients. Data analysis from the hospital electronic medical record was performed on patients attending the glaucoma clinic between April and May 2021 at Charing Cross Hospital, London, United Kingdom, after easing of the national lockdown due to COVID‐19 pandemic. The main outcome measures included increased intraocular pressure (IOP), worsening of visual field (VF) defect, thinning of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) and the posterior pole using spectral domain Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Results Notes from 224 patients were analysed. Among them, 24 patients were identified to develop a progression of glaucoma. Majority of patients (10, 42%) had open angle glaucoma, 6 (25%) had normal tension glaucoma, 5 (21%) were glaucoma suspects, 2 (8%) had narrow angle glaucoma and 1 (4%) had angle closure glaucoma. The mean IOP (±SD) pre‐lockdown was 15.4 ± 3.8 mmHg and post‐lockdown was 16.7 ± 5.4 mmHg (p 0.05). Of the 24 patients who developed progression, 16 had an increase in IOP (mean ∆ IOP was 3.8 ± 1.8 mmHg; p