Sleep-disordered breathing and effects on ocular health.

Sleep-disordered breathing may make the eye vulnerable due to the direct effect of hypoxia or it can involve pathways that lead to impaired autoregulation of optic nerve perfusion. In this review, we discuss our present understanding of the interactions that occur between sleep-disordered breathing and the eye, with particular attention to discussing possible links with glaucoma, nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, visual field defects, papilledema, and floppy eyelid syndrome. The importance of understanding these relationships is the positive benefits to ocular health that can derive when sleep-disordered breathing is diagnosed and treated.