The Chinese Glaucoma Study Consortium for Patients With Glaucoma: Design, Rationale and Baseline Patient Characteristics

PRECIS: Chinese Glaucoma Study Consortium (CGSC) as the first nationwide glaucoma registry in China, we describe its design, rationale, the geographic distribution of the hospitals, and baseline patient characteristics. AIM: As a leading cause of blindness in China, glaucoma affects 2% to 4% of adults over the age of 40 and will become increasingly prevalent as the population ages. At the national level, there are few reports on the current medical practice for glaucoma patients. CGSC will be considered as the first nationwide glaucoma registry in China. Here we describe its design, rationale, the geographic distribution of the hospitals, and baseline patient characteristics. METHODS: From December 21, 2015 to September 9, 2018, CGSC recruited patients with the diagnoses of primary angle-closure suspect, primary angle-closure, primary angle-closure glaucoma, acute primary angle closure, primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), pigmentary glaucoma (PG), and pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PXG) from 111 hospitals covering 67 cities from 22 provinces, 4 municipalities, and 5 autonomous regions in mainland China. Clinical data were collected using an Electronic Data Capture System designed by Tongren hospital and Gauss informed Ltd. Blood samples were collected from every patient for further genetic analysis. RESULTS: Medical records of 10,892 patients were collected, of which 5762 patients have complete information. The average age of those with complete information (n=5762) was 62.05±11.26 years old, and 35.25% were males. Primary angle-closure disease, including primary angle-closure suspect/primary angle-closure/primary angle-closure glaucoma/acute primary angle closure, was predominant (4588, 79.63%), and the distribution for others is as follows: POAG (1116, 19.37%), PXG (41, 0.71%) and PG (17, 0.30%). A total of 16,684 blood samples were collected, of which 9917 (82.68%) were primary angle-closure disease, 1987 (16.57%) were POAG, 69 (0.58%) were PXG, 22 (0.18%) were PG, and 4689 were normal controls. CONCLUSIONS: The CGSC is the first national-level glaucoma registry study in China. Clinical data and blood samples will provide the opportunity to study the epidemiology of glaucoma in Chinese hospitals, to evaluate the level of medical diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma in China, and to identify the susceptibility loci for glaucoma.