PurposeTo evaluate the association between cigarette smoking and glaucoma in the United States population.Patients and methodsUS civilian, non-institutionalized population from 2005 to 2008 administrations of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that were ≥40 years of age with visual fields and optic disc photographs were included. Diagnosis of glaucoma was based on the Rotterdam criteria. Logistic regression modeling was performed to assess the association between glaucoma and smoking history, while controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, household income, alcohol consumption, diabetes, and hypertension.ResultsIn 3864 participants, 212 (5.5%) had glaucoma (corresponds to a population weighted glaucoma prevalence of 3.7% in a total of 83 570 127 subjects). Population weighted proportion of current smokers was 20.6% and ex-smokers was 28.3%. Participants with glaucoma were older (63.0±11.6 vs 56.1±11.2, P=0.002), likely to be male (57.1% vs 49.2%, P=0.03), to be Black (36.3% vs 20.7%, P<0.001), and to have diabetes (18.9% vs 12.4%, P=0.006) and hypertension (50.5% vs 39.7%, P=0.003). Current smokers had a lower odds of glaucoma compared to non-smokers (OR=0.61, 95% CI=0.41-0.88, P=0.009), and ex-smokers (OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.28-0.76, P=0.002). The effect estimates were similar in adjusted models, but not statistically significant. Among smokers, greater pack/day of smoking history was associated with statistically significantly higher odds of glaucoma (OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.08-2.67, P=0.02).ConclusionsAmong cigarette smokers, heavy smoking defined by greater number of pack of cigarettes smoked per day is associated with higher odds of glaucoma. Health care providers should include this association when counseling patients on their smoking habit.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to quantify anterior chamber (AC) parameters and to determine the proportion of eyes with exaggerated lens vault (LV) in different subtypes of angle closure disease using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).

Patients and methods

In this prospective study, 115 eyes of 115 Iranian patients with angle closure disease were included and categorized into three groups: (1) fellow eyes of acute angle closure (AAC; 40 eyes); (2) primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG; 39 eyes); and (3) primary angle closure suspect (PACS; 36 eyes). Complete ophthalmic examination including gonioscopy, A-scan biometry, and AS-OCT were performed. Angle parameters, LV, and iris thickness (IT) were measured using AS-OCT. An exaggerated LV was defined as LV more than one-third the distance between the corneal endothelium and a line drawn to connect the nasal and temporal scleral spurs.

Results

Fellow eyes of AAC had the shallower AC (P=0.01), greater iris curvature (I-curve; P=0.01), and higher LV (P=0.02) as compared with PACS and PACG eyes. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean IT at 750 μm from scleral spur among the three groups (P=0.45). Exaggerated LV was found in 67.5, 35.9, and 40% of fellow eyes of AAC, PACG, and PACS, respectively, (P=0.008) with an odds ratio of 1.92 (P=0.005) for fellow vs PACG and 1.68 (P=0.01) for fellow vs PACS.

Conclusions

Exaggerated LV is highly prevalent in fellow eyes of AAC. These eyes have shallower AC depth, greater I-curve, and higher LV when compared with PACG and PACS.

The high-precision X-ray diffraction setup for work with diamond anvil cells (DACs) in interaction chamber 2 (IC2) of the High Energy Density instrument of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser is described. This includes beamline optics, sample positioning and detector systems located in the multipurpose vacuum chamber. Concepts for pump-probe X-ray diffraction experiments in the DAC are described and their implementation demonstrated during the First User Community Assisted Commissioning experiment. X-ray heating and diffraction of Bi under pressure, obtained using 20 fs X-ray pulses at 17.8 keV and 2.2 MHz repetition, is illustrated through splitting of diffraction peaks, and interpreted employing finite element modeling of the sample chamber in the DAC.