Glaucoma and Telemedicine

J Glaucoma. 2023 Feb 28. doi: 10.1097/IJG.0000000000002200. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic drastically impacted global health, forcing institutions to provide alternative models of safe and reliable health care. In this context, telemedicine has been successfully used to overcome distance barriers and improve access to medical services. Teleglaucoma is the application of telemedicine to screen and monitor glaucoma, a chronic and progressive optic neuropathy. Teleglaucoma screening aims to detect the disease at an earlier stage, especially in high-risk populations and underserved areas, also identifying patients who require more urgent treatment. Teleglaucoma monitoring seeks to provide remote management through virtual clinics, where classical in-person visits are replaced by synchronous data collection (clinical measurements) performed by non-ophthalmologists and asynchronous review (decision-making) by ophthalmologists. This may be employed for low-risk patients with early disease, improving health care logistics, reducing number of face-to-face consultations, and saving time and costs. New technologies may also allow home monitoring of patients in teleglaucoma programs, with addition of artificial intelligence methods, which are expected to increase accuracy of remote glaucoma screening/ monitoring, and to support clinical decision-making. However, for incorporation of teleglaucoma into clinical practice, a complex system for collection, transfer, flow, and interpretation of data is still necessary, in addition to clearer regulatory markers by government agencies and medical entities.

PMID:36847715 | DOI:10.1097/IJG.0000000000002200