From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Researchers assessed the longitudinal change in the risk of progression to blindness for patients with newly diagnosed open-angle glaucoma over a 45-year time period. Using data from a population-based cohort study in Olmsted County, Minnesota, they determined the 20-year probability of progression to blindness in at least one eye decreased from 25.8 percent between 1965 and 1980 to 13.5 percent between 1981 and 2000 (P = 0.01). The annual population incidence of glaucoma-related blindness was also lower. However, a significant proportion of patients still progress to blindness despite diagnostic and therapeutic advancements. Ophthalmology, January 2014