Glaucoma

Your doctor has told you that you may have glaucoma and you are worried. Though there is no cure for this condition, it is crucial to identify it so that doctors can help preserve your remaining vision and enable you to live a full life.

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve that affects approximately 67 million people globally, of which 6.8 Million are in Africa. It is the second most common cause of blindness, and the Commonest Cause of IRREVERSIBLE BLINDNESS. In India if affects 11 million people, of which 1.5 million are blind. In the world, 4.5 million people are blind due to glaucoma, a number that's expected to more than double by 2020. Glaucoma disproportionately affects Africans.
In glaucoma the field of vision decreases so gradually that often the patient does not appreciatethe problem till it is too late. Since it usually causes blindness without any symptoms, glaucoma has been called the 'sneak thief of sight'.

What causes glaucoma

Our eyes constantly produce a clear fluid called aqueous humor, which bathes and nourishes its different parts (this is different from tears). Normally the fluid drains out of the eye through a 'drainage canal' located in the 'angle' of the eye, which is the junction between the cornea and the iris. In one with glaucoma, the fluid does not drain out as freely as it should, thus increasing the pressure inside the eye, which is known as intraocular pressure (IOP).
The optic nerve carries all sensations from the retina to the brain; the part of the optic nerve that is inside the eye is called the optic disc. Raised IOP damages the optic disc. Glaucoma may sometimes occur with a statistically "normal" IOP. Hence the vulnerability of the optic disc is another factor that needs to be considered. Accordingly, the diagnosis of glaucoma requires more than the mere measurement of intraocular pressure.

Types of glaucoma

There are several types of glaucoma, all of them can increase IOP and damage the optic nerve.
In open angle glaucoma, an increase in resistance to the outflow in the canal causes a rise in the IOP. This type develops slowly and the symptoms may not be obvious till the damage has occurred. The patient may lose peripheral vision, leaving only central or 'tunnel' vision. This occurs more among people above 45 years of age.
In angle closure glaucoma there is a relative block to the flow of fluid, which causes raised pressure. This occurs more among long-sighted people.
The more common variety of angle closure glaucoma is chronic angle closure. This behaves similar to open angle glaucoma but the 'drainage' canal is closed bythe iris.In the rarer acute cases, the symptoms are dramatic and may include severe pain in the eye, headache, nausea, reduced vision, and seeing a rainbow-like colored rings around lights. Stress, anxiety, and reading may also precipitate an attack, which may resolve spontaneously but recur after sometime.
The third type is developmental glaucoma, which may be further divided into congenital glaucoma (seen in infants’right from birth) and juvenileglaucoma (in children and young adults).
Glaucoma or high IOP may also be secondary, due to other causes, such as prolonged use of steroid drops without prescription. Such drops should never be used without monitoring the intraocular pressure.

How is glaucoma diagnosed

Since the treatment methods for open angle and angle closure glaucoma are different, it is important to identify the mechanism involved. The diagnosis (or exclusion) of glaucoma requires a detailed and comprehensive eye examination.

  • Routine vision test that requires reading letters from a chart.
  • Slit lamp (microscope) examination: This special microscope is the ophthalmologist's stethoscope and all patients, not just those suspected of having glaucoma, must undergo a slit lamp examination
  • The pressure inside the eye is measured with an 'applanation tonometer' attached to the slit lamp. A hand held version of the instrument is also effective. It may be necessary to obtain multiple readings of the pressure during the course of the day and at night. The older method or resting an instrument on the cornea while the patient lies down is not accurate. The newer noncontact air soft (computerized) instrument may be good for screening but cannot be used for diagnosis or treatment of glaucoma.
  • An examination of the angle of the eye is done with the help of a gonioscope. This is a contact lens placed on the eye to examine the angle of the eye. Its use is mandatory in determining the type of glaucoma.

The above two steps require the use of anesthetic drops to eliminate sensation in the eye when the lenses are placed on the eye.The drops may burn a little bit.

  • An optic disc examination on a dilated eye is also required. The doctor will usually instill eye drops to dilate the pupil to facilitate examination of the optic disc and the back of the eye, the retina. For obtaining a stereoscopic view on the microscope a hand-held lens or a contact lens is the best method. A computerized scan of the optic disc may also be done.
  • To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor will conduct an automated visual field or perimetry test. Damage to the optic nerve limits the field of vision, but regular vision, i.e. the ability to read an ophthalmologist's eye chart, is affected at a much later stage. In its early stages glaucoma can only be detected or monitored by using an automated perimetry test. A normal patient will have a 'full field vision', while a person with glaucoma has black, non-seeing areas in the field ofvision.

Many people have difficulty doing the perimetry test at first, and may be better at it the second or the third time. Baseline tests are necessary for future comparison and periodic examinations are needed tocheck the progression of the disease.
ANY automated perimeter is NOT acceptable. The field test is a subjective test and it is important to have a calibrated machine with an appropriate normal database against which tocompare your results. Sometimes a diagnosis may not be possible on one visit. In very early cases it may be necessary to repeat the entire examination after a period of observation.
Diagnosis of Glaucoma is difficult in the best of hands and so one must do as many objective tests as possible to rule out Glaucoma. Glaucoma suspects are clearly advised to repeat the tests and must take the follow up seriously as Glaucoma is “silent” and causes irreversible damage.

Who is most at risk? Are Africans receiving appropriate glaucoma treatment?

Anybody is at risk, though some people face a higher risk of getting the disease. These include people :

  • with a history of glaucoma in the family
  • aged over 40 years old
  • black or colored race
  • with symptoms such as short slightness, known as myopia
  • withother predisposing symptoms like migraines, low blood pressure at night known as nocturnal hypotension, diabetes mellitus and thyroid disease.
  • Who use steroid drops, tablets or ointments
  • Who have history of eye injury

For people with these risk factors, routine eye examinations is mandatory.
Glaucoma can be diagnosed early through a regular eye check up by an eye specialist. Once diagnosed, a person has to commit to lifelong follow up appointments.
Everyone should have a comprehensive eye examination periodically as it can help detect other preventable, controllable, ortreatable diseases.

Treatment-a holistic view

The management of glaucoma must be an individualized effort.
Medical therapy is expensive, and likely to be life-long. As with any treatment, there is a risk of side effects. Sometimes the side effects may be more uncomfortable for the patient, and less acceptable, than living with the disease. Therefore doctors consider the risk-benefit ratio of the treatment options for glaucoma. The main criterion is how much functional capacity is affected rather than the actual degree of vision loss. Your doctor will select the treatment most suited for your condition, please follow the advice meticulously.
For open angle glaucoma initially eye drops are used to lower IOP. If the disease is advanced, and / or medical treatment fails, surgery may be necessary. In some patients glaucoma may be controlled by medicine alone, while others may need laser treatment or surgery. However, glaucoma surgery is not as predictable as cataract surgery and carries more risks, including, a slight chance of loss of the eye from devastating bleeding or infection. Surgery is usually done if drugs fail to control the eye pressure, or if for socioeconomic considerations patient may be unable to comply with long term use of medicines.
At Eye & U laser surgery is done on an out-patient basis; this means you go home immediately after surgery. Usually one eye is treated at a time. The procedure is performed under topical anesthesia. Simplistically speaking, in angle closure glaucoma doctors use a laser to create an alternative path for the fluid to drain out. However, advanced cases require medication and surgery as for open angle glaucoma. An attack of closed angle glaucoma is an emergency and the IOP must be lowered as soon as possible to prevent damage to the optic nerve.
Non-penetrating surgery can also help decrease eye pressure and has fewer complications. But its results are not as good. Hence it is not a first line of treatment for glaucoma. In cases with poorpotential for visual recovery of function, a different kind of laser may be used to reduce eye pressure.

Need for constant care

Lifelong monitoring is essential; the frequency of follow up visits depends on the individual case. At each visit most of the tests may be repeated to determine the progression of the disease and decide whether change in treatment is needed.


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