Welcome to my blog, let’s continue to stay safe and keep with protocols and measures meant to protect us from the virus. The worst may be over but the virus is still with us. It is better safe than sorry. This too shall pass.
Today I want to talk about the close angle type of glaucoma which I personally consider as an outlier because of its presentation and how it differs a little from the others, then we would understand how it comes about, the signs and symptoms and the treatment protocol.
In our previous lesson we came to learn a little bit more about glaucoma and came to the understanding that it’s diagnosis is based on characteristics of sign that may be presented in the eye. So in some way it may be considered as a syndrome. The most important features taken in consideration in glaucomatous cases are high ocular pressure and disk excavation.
Glaucoma is considered the silent thief of sight because it does not present any symptoms only signs until its advance stages when vision starts to deteriorate before one may notice something is wrong hence the regular mantra of regular checkups which may provide an opportunity to catch this early.
This particular glaucoma type is not like the others. Whiles glaucoma may be put under the chronic category because of how it takes time to build up and develop, close angle is acute, happens within a short while and yet possess or the dangers than comes with a long standing glaucoma and that’s loss of sight if nothing is done about it quickly.
It is a painful experience unlike the other types of glaucoma and presents with symptoms such as seeing haloes around light, blurred vision, red eyes, headache and even abdominal pain. The classic sign of Glaucoma which is high ocular pressure is also present and may present with cornea oedema too.
What happens is that the area within the eye where the fluids within the eye as supposed to drain as new ones are produced get blocked. As more continue to be produced within the eye it adds up to the already existent one and with nowhere to go the pressure builds up very quickly and put lots of pressure on the eye. Because the disc area where the optic nerve exist the eye is the weakest it suffers the most and if the pressure is not dealt with then the effect could be sight-threatening.
Close Angle Glaucoma could be intermittent in some cases due to how or what is causing the blockade of the path of drainage, or acute and blinding irrespective the focus should be on alleviating the pressure as soon as possible for the eye to have a room to breathe. Patient may be given acetazolamide injections and or oral tablets to bring the pressure. In addition ocular pressure reducing eye drops such as timolol may be given. Surgical intervention may also be administered to clear the channel.
The purpose of this post is not so you may self-medicate if you think you may be having the condition rather so you would know the importance of seeking immediate medical attention with your optometrist or ophthalmologist. Self-medication may prove fatal if the eye pressure fall below a certain point. It is important that we report all ocular and emergency cases to our primary eye care practitioner and use the knowledge gained to guide our actions.
Thanks for reading and have a great week, Special thanks to my mentors and supporters 
Khazaeni B, Khazaeni L. Acute Closed Angle Glaucoma. [Updated 2020 Mar 16]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430857/
