Glaucoma
Disease
Chronic open-angle glaucoma, is a chronic disease that causes progressive impairment of the optic nerve. Glaucoma is a very common disease since it affects 1 million people in France. It is responsible for a slowly progressive degradation of the visual field, or even a loss of vision.
The main risk factor is ocular hypertension.
Other risk factors for glaucoma include age, family history, high myopia, cardiovascular risk factors and corticosteroid therapy.
Diagnosis
Chronic ocular hypertension (elevated intraocular pressure) is asymptomatic and can lead to glaucoma which can can progress for many years without any symptom, (neither pain nor decreased visual acuity are perceived by the patient).
Screening (an essential procedure)
The absence of a symptom implies that it is essential to be examined by an ophthalmologist by measuring of the ocular pressure and examining the optic nerve (the papilla).
In addition to intraocular pressure, the diagnosis of glaucoma relies on various elements, including the study of the optic nerve in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the study of the visual field.
Treatment
Ocular hypertension is the major target of current treatment and it is designed in order to slow the progression of the disease. The three options are: drops, laser or surgery.
Surgery (performed under local anaesthesia) is recommended only when the drops are not enough effective or poorly tolerated by the patient.
You can make an appointment with one of the Ophthalmologists of the department who provide specific care dedicated to this pathology:
