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Purpose: To study the alterations of the trabecular meshwork of Belgian and Congolese patients with open angle glaucoma (OAG)., Methods: A trabeculectomy was performed in 27 OAG patients from Belgium and 24 from Congo; the trabecular specimens were fixed, embedded, stained, and studied by light microscopy. These specimens were compared with the trabecular meshworks from 5 Belgian non-glaucomatous eyes., Results: The mean number (+/- standard deviation) of trabecular cells per field was 69 (+/- 10) in Belgian normal eyes, 34 (+/- 17) in Belgian OAG patients, and 10 (+/- 6) in Congolese OAG patients. The trabecular meshwork was collapsed and Schlemm's canal was closed in the cases with a diminished number of cells. Pigmentation was present in 79% of the Congolese and in 35% of the Belgian specimens., Conclusion: The trabecular meshwork from OAG patients has a lower cellularity than normal, and the effect is much more pronounced in the trabecular meshwork from Congolese patients. This may be a possible explanation for the racial differences in OAG and the more severe forms of glaucoma in black people.

Objective: To identify possible risk factors for open-angle glaucoma (OAG) among 260 black subjects in Kinshasa (Congo)., Methods: Between May 14, 1996 and June 14, 1996, 260 persons, aged 24-60 years old, working at a factory in Kinshasa, have been examined. Twenty-two patients with OAG and 238 controls were identified. Data were obtained through interviews and clinical examinations. OAG was defined by the presence of both optic disc damage and characteristic visual field defects., Results: The frequency of OAG was 8.5%. Associations were found with intraocular pressure greater than 21 mmHg (Odds ratio (OR) = 119.4, 95% confidence interval (CI), 17.62 to 4960.64), current cigarette smoking (OR = 2.77, 95% CI, 1.04 to 7.34) and Mongo ethnic subgroup (OR = 3.195, 95% CI, 0.93 to 9.57)., Conclusion: Mongo ethnic subgroup seemed to be another risk factor for OAG in Congo.

The purpose of this study was to establish in this first report the age standards of the Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity in Zaïre. Contrast sensitivity using the Pelli-Robson chart was performed in 100 normal Zairian black subjects aged from 10 to 59 years and 36 patients (22 patients with open-angle glaucoma and 14 with optic nerve disease). Scores of normal subjects were age related (p < 0.05). The results of Zairian young subjects were similar to those found previously in young white subjects; scores for older subjects were lower when compared to those of whites. Scores of patients were lower than those of normals (p < 0.001). Contrast sensitivity using the Pelli-Robson chart can be useful in developing countries.