Glaucoma is a type of optic neuropathy.
The glaucoma represents the third cause of blindness in France and can be diagnosed only by consulting an ophthalmologist. This is an affection of the optic nerve, frequently caused by increased intraocular pressure due to an insufficiency in eliminating the aqueous humour of the eye. There are many types of glaucoma, but all of them have certain common features, including one defective optic nerve, which leads to an irreversible vision loss.
This affectation is visible by the appearance of a cavity at the top of the optic nerve, perceived at the fundus eye level. Keeping under control the intraocular pressure (PIO) is one of the main objectives of glaucoma treatment. The eyes are filled with liquids that maintain the internal pressure called intraocular pressure. The liquid that fills the anterior part of the eye it calls aqueous humour; it feeds the different structures of the anterior part of the eye. Therefore, this liquid circulates around the ocular rooms and it’s evacuated on several ways. If, from one reason or another, those ways are obturated, even partially, the aqueous humour meets resistance, it can’t be evacuated properly and it will produce an accession of the intraocular pressure. The glaucoma treatment is made, principally, from the instilation of ophthalmic drops, rarely with laser and ultimately by glaucoma surgery.
