CAUSES
Congestive heart failure and some diseases that cause respiratory failure may also be the cause of glaucoma, as well as prolonged corticosteroid treatments that are necessary for certain complaints.
But this type of glaucoma that can also be caused by muscular neck movements made by musicians who play wind instruments like the trumpet, the saxophone or the trombone, as it increases the venous pressure in the jugular, which brings the blood to the sclera of the eye. An excessively tight tie know can cause the same effects.
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of secondary glaucoma will depend on whether it is an open or closed angle glaucoma, since one is progressive and the other occurs suddenly.
In the former, there will be a gradual loss of peripheral vision. In the latter, the symptoms are those of acute glaucoma: ocular pain, which can extend to the nape of the neck and trigeminal, blurred vision, pupil dilation, change in iris colour, corneal hardening, nausea and vomiting, etc.
TREATMENT
The most important thing to establish the most appropriate treatment for secondary glaucoma is to determine its cause, since in many cases, the treatment of the complaint that causes it suffices to prevent its progression.
However, when it is not possible to prevent its growth, in other cases it is necessary to treat it in the same way as the primary glaucoma.
TREATMENT AND SURGERY
In either case, the surgery will aim to restore the drainage of the aqueous humour, so that it can pass from the posterior chamber to the anterior, exit the eye and normalise intraocular pressure (IOP).
Filtration surgery techniques will be used if the glaucoma is open angle, or irridotomy if it is closed angle.
If the treatment is not successful, it is possible to implant a drainage valve, consisting of a small tube through which drainage of the aqueous humour will take place.