Autonomic neuropathy in ocular hypertension.

By means of a series of cardiovascular autonomic function tests, systemic parasympathetic neuropathy was demonstrated in 41.8% of 189 patients with ocular hypertension and in 2.6% of 76 controls. Parasympathetic neuropathy was significantly more common in patients with narrow-angle hypertension than in those with wide-angle hypertension. Raised intraocular pressure may be a manifestation of systemic disease rather than an exclusively ocular phenomenon.