The effect of hospitalization on intraocular pressure.

Thirteen subjects with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension (five men and eight women, ranging in age from 51 to 73 years) were hospitalized for four to six days during which their intraocular pressures were measured four times a day (8 AM, 2 PM, 6 PM, and 10 PM). After leaving the hospital they returned to the outpatient clinic on several occasions for similar measurements (8 AM). Eight patients were taking timolol, pilocarpine, or both and five were receiving no treatment. In all cases, the 8 AM measurement was lower during hospitalization. The difference between the two sets of measurements was significant at P = .021.

The computer in clinical research. Prevalence of glaucoma.

The prevalence of glaucoma in a rural population of 6232 people over the age of 40 years, including patients with previously diagnosed glaucoma, was found to be 1.21%. There were 41 cases of open-angle glaucoma compared to 32 cases of angle-closure glaucoma. The prevalence of glaucoma among subjects over the age of 60 years was 3.07%.

Mixed glaucoma.

Two hundred and sixty-seven eyes which underwent peripheral iridectomy for presumed angle-closure glaucoma were investigated. The diagnosis of angle-closure glaucoma was confirmed postoperatively in 258 eyes, in 201 of which the intraocular pressure became normal without further treatment and in 57 of which the postiridectomy IOP was elevated because of visible damage to the anterior chamber angle. Three eyes had open-angle glaucoma with a narrow angle. Six eyes had possible mixed (combined mechanism) glaucoma (2-2%). Mixed glaucoma is a rare, fortuitous combination of open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma rather than a distinct entity, and it might be advisable to avoid the term, which tends to be used for primary glaucomas of uncertain classification.

Expulsive hemorrhage: management without sclerotomy.

Expulsive hemorrhage occurring during cataract extraction was successfully treated by immediate wound closure, without evacuation of blood through the sclera. Only two such cases have been reported previously. Modern micro-surgical techniques are not ideal for the management of this condition.

[Closed angle glaucoma induced by phospholine iodide and epinephrine in a case of open angle glaucoma]. / Glaucome à angle fermant provoqué par la phospholine iodide et l'épinéphrine dans un cas de glaucome à angle ouvert

A patient suffering from open angle glaucoma was treated with topical phospholine iodide and epinephrine. Before treatment the anterior chamber was deep and the angle wide open in both eyes. Two weeks after beginning treatment there was an acute elevation of pressure to 52 mm hg in the right eye accompanied by myopia, shallowing of the anterior chamber and closure of the angle. These findings were dramatically reversed by the instillation of one drop of tropicamide and one drop of cyclopentolate. Simultaneous contraction of the dilator and sphincter muscles of the iris in this case probably caused pupillary block and closure of the anterior chamber angle, in spite of the initially wide open angle. Phospholine iodide may also have caused a spasm of the ciliary muscle and a forward movement of the lens, in a manner similar to that thought to occur in malignant glaucoma. Strong miotics together with epinephrine should be used cautiously in the treatment of glaucoma even when the initial examination shows a wide open angle.

Bullous keratopathy following lens extraction in eyes with acute glaucoma due to intumescent cataract.

Nine cases are presented, six of them in detail, which suggest that there is a high risk of bullous keratopathy developing when the lens is removed for the treatment of acute glaucoma due to an intumescent cataract. In some cases the keratopathy is due to detachment of Descemet's membrane from the cornea. Acute glaucoma due to an intumescent cataract should be treated medically or by peripheral iridectomy. The lens should be removed only after the intraocular pressure has been normal and the cornea free of edema for at least 6 weeks.

Fellow eye in angle-closure glaucoma.

118 consecutive patients with angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) were investigated. The primarily affected eye presented with acute ACG in 71 patients, with intermittent or chronic ACG in 41, and with acute ACG secondary to intumescent cataract in six. ACG was demonstrated in the fellow eye in 85 of the 118 patients (72 per cent.), including 72, 71, and 83 per cent. respectively of the three groups distinguished above. In 27 fellow eyes, ACG was demonstrable only by provocative testing. Eleven patients failed to return for follow-up investigation. A routine prophylactic peripheral iridectomy in the fellow eye is justified in patients who are unlikely to attend for follow-up examinations,, but may be avoided in about 23 per cent. of patients who attend regularly.