Eye Surgery Procedures & Treatment

Talking to Your Eye Doctor About Glaucoma

Damage from OAG
There are instances where the meshwork does not function due to inflammation, or the presence of white blood cells, from various causes. Inflammation of any sort is called “-itis,” but the reason for the inflammation may or may not be known. So, a “trabeculitis” may cause the meshwork to malfunction, and the pressure of the eye to increase despite an open angle, due to inflammation from infection (for example, herpes), after surgery, from autoimmune diseases, or unknown causes (Posner-Schlossman syndrome).

Steroid-induced glaucoma is a special case of reversible elevation of pressure in the eye. Steroids, either by eye drops or by mouth, have the potential to cause glaucoma by stabilizing cell membranes of the cells in the meshwork that have to “catch and release” the aqueous. Therefore, the function is slowed. People who have a tendency for elevated eye pressure with short or minimal exposure to steroids are termed “steroid responders,” and some studies indicated that these people may even be at greater risk for OAG as they age.

Narrow angle (angle-closure) glaucoma (NAG) is caused by a narrowing of the access to the meshwork lying in the angle between the iris and the cornea. NAG can happen intermittently, bouncing the pressure in the eye up and down (chronic narrow angle glaucoma, or CNAG); or it can occur in the form of a sudden, painful attack of severely elevated pressure. People who are at risk for NAG can have a short eye, with a narrower angle, or a developing cataract, which pushes the iris forward and narrows the angle, or a thick iris, which is more common in the Asian populations.