Open-angle-glaucoma

Closed-angle-glaucoma

Fig.3, a schematic section of the eyeball, shows where the eye-fluid, (aqueous, darts in the front) is formed and how it flows to the anterior chamber of the eye via the pupil opening and is drained to the blood-vessels via drain-canals. With the most frequent chronic form of glaucoma the drainage is hampered by a stricture of the drain canals.

That's why the eye-pressure gradually rises, but there is no absolute limit above which eye-pressure heightening can damage the eye. The average eye-pressure is 16 mm Hg, but some eyes can support a higher pressure better than others. That's why an ophthalmic surgeon should examine each patient with heightened eye-pressure regularly. It is also a fact that an eye that has already been damaged by glaucoma will not easily support a heightened pressure.

In case of an acute form (or closed-angle-glaucoma) the drainage of the eye-liquid is cut of quite brutally, so that the eye-pressure rises sharply. The consequences are a decrease in sight and severe pains.