Comparison of in vitro corticosteroid response in pigmentary glaucoma and primary open-angle glaucoma.

We used an in vitro assay utilizing corticosteroids to inhibit transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes to evaluate a group of 20 patients with pigmentary glaucoma. The pigmentary glaucoma patient group did not manifest the markedly increased cellular sensitivity to corticosteroids associated with primary open-angle glaucoma. If increased sensitivity to corticosteroids plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma, then pigmentary glaucoma appears to be etiologically, as well as clinically, a separate entity.