Glaucomafor medical studentsa ten minute presentationphotos off the www & Good HopeDavid Kinshuck, Good Hope Hospital,www.goodhope.org.uk/departments/eyedept/

Glaucoma: what is happening

Either:the drain blocks here

Or poor blood supply here

Damages the optic nerve..looks ‘caved in’, called ‘cupped’

Characteristic pattern to loss of visual field

Rim of optic nerve becomes thinner as

disc caves in and becomes more cupped

Types of glaucoma

• Congenital• Secondary• Juvenile• Chronic open angle• Acute closed angle• Many different

types

Acute glaucoma

• Emergency• Can be more gradual• Red eye• Achy, abdominal pain• Misty vision• Go from light into dark• Small eye, shallow anterior

chamber, pupil mid dilated, • Iris lens contact• Push the iris forward• Eye feels hard

Chronic glaucoma

• Painless, common in elderly• Don’t notice anything wrong • detected by optometrist• Screening vital • field, pressure, disc