How do you recognize?
"There are no symptoms until the damage to the optic nerve reaches an advanced stage. It has a gradual loss of visual field to the tubular vision (like looking through a rolled up piece of paper: the patient sees well, it can also have 10/10, but sees only a small portion, it is unable to orient, for example to cross the street. Then also the central vision disappears). But even if the patient does not notice anything for years, during a visit to the ophthalmologist can pick up some suspicious signs. That's why it is important to undergo regular checks of eye pressure and fundus. If one of these two parameters is altered more specific tests are performed, such as visual field examination and morphological investigations to analyze the optic nerve fibers or the state. "
What are the treatments?
"You can slow the progression of open angle glaucoma with special eye drops, laser or, in severe cases, with surgery. Treatment with eye drops is usually effective if followed consistently. The 34-45% of patients, however, does not properly therapy. The laser treatment aims to broaden the channels from which flows the aqueous humor, thus restoring the pressure inside the eye. The surgery is based on classical filtering operations, including the most common is the trabeculectomy. The postoperative course is quite long and complex, for the healing of the wound, and this explains why we tend to reserve this strategy in advanced stages of disease, in which medical therapy is not effective. They are being tested, with encouraging results, new interventions in which the surgical site is achieved by an incision through the cornea and conjunctiva and the sclera, as is traditional in the intervention. The advantages include ease and speed of execution, the short postoperative course, similar to that of cataract surgery without the need for frequent monitoring and a lower risk of side effects (infections). Not only that, if unsuccessful, you can repeat the action or resort to surgery. "
