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| What are the symptoms of glaucoma? | ||
| In case of chronic form, the eye-pressure increases gradually in the course of the years, without resulting in personal complaints (as is the case with an acute form). The dropout symptoms occur because the increased eye-pressure damages the optic nerve. When the chronic glaucoma has not been treated the patient will only start noticing something, when the disease has developed rather seriously already and when there is a clear restriction in the peripheral visual field or when the central visual acuity is affected. The visual field is what one sees when one sees straight ahead. The peripheral visual field helps us to orientate and the central visual acuity enables us to read, write, etc.... |
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In the beginning, only small parts of the visual field drop out. This "dropping out" can only be discovered through a computerised examination of the visual field, which makes accurate comparisons possible. Later on, the visual field will become restricted more and more and finally the patient himself will notice it. |
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