What are pupil changes in acute glaucoma?

In daily life, glaucoma is a very common eye disease. Glaucoma not only causes blurred vision, but also leads to decreased vision, which has a great impact on the health of the eyes. People with glaucoma are prone to changes in the eyes and pupils, and the pupils can easily cause redness of the eyes or turbidity in the eyes.

What are the pupil changes in glaucoma?

Glaucoma usually affects only one eye, but the other eye can easily become affected. The onset is often at night. During an acute glaucoma attack, vision becomes blurred, halos are seen around lights, the cornea begins to fog up, and the eyes often become red and painful. When acute glaucoma fully attacks, the patient will feel severe pain in the head and eyes. The symptoms will persist and begin to worsen, and vomiting and collapse will follow. The cornea may appear hazier, sometimes even gray and grainy. At the same time, the eyeball will feel extremely painful and feel swollen and hardened.

pathology

Acute glaucoma is a disease in which the drainage angle is suddenly blocked, resulting in obstruction of the circulation of aqueous humor secreted by the ciliary body. Elderly people with hyperopia are more likely to suffer from this disease. This disease has a familial genetic tendency. When the iris contracts to dilate the pupil, the outer edge of the iris blocks the drainage angle. The aqueous humor produced in the space behind the iris cannot be discharged, so the pressure inside the eyeball increases. If aqueous humor accumulates in the drainage angle, the pressure inside the eyeball will continue to rise over time and acute glaucoma will occur.

An acute attack of glaucoma causes a sudden increase in intraocular pressure, which causes excessive stretching of the cornea, followed by corneal edema, so the patient feels that things are blurred or has a significant decrease in vision. When the high intraocular pressure persists, it can affect the axoplasm flow of the optic nerve fibers, causing poor blood perfusion of the optic disc, resulting in optic nerve atrophy and nasal visual field defects. In severe cases, tubular vision is formed, which not only significantly reduces vision, but also leads to vision loss.

Causes

In acute glaucoma, the iris causes acute blockage of the angle. The angle between the iris and cornea of ​​such people's eyes is not as large or open as normal. When the pupil dilates too quickly or too large, the peripheral iris will "pile up" and cover the drainage tube, blocking the drainage channel of aqueous humor, and the intraocular pressure will rise rapidly. An ophthalmologist can tell if this angle is abnormally narrow with a simple routine examination.

Glaucoma can be induced by a narrow angle between the iris and cornea, by using medication to dilate the pupil, or by staying in a dark room for too long. Symptoms of acute glaucoma include severe headache, eye pain, nausea, vomiting, haloes (seeing rainbows around lights), and severe blurred vision - immediate emergency medical attention is required because acute high eye pressure can cause severe and rapid vision loss.

Clinical manifestations

1. Liver depression and qi stagnation type: symptoms include headache, blurred vision, foggy eyes like breath, dilated pupils, rainbow halos when viewing lights, increased intraocular pressure, systemic symptoms include emotional discomfort, chest tightness and warmth, poor appetite, vomiting, nausea, bitter taste in the mouth, red tongue, yellow tongue coating, and rapid and stringy pulse.

2. Internal resistance of water and dampness: Symptoms include occasional eye swelling, halo vision, blurred vision, shallow anterior chamber, high intraocular pressure, often accompanied by headache, greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse.

3. Phlegm-fire disturbance type: Symptoms include dizziness, eye pain, high intraocular pressure, restlessness and palpitations, poor appetite and excessive phlegm, chest tightness and nausea, bitter taste in the mouth, red tongue, yellow and greasy tongue coating, and stringy or slippery and rapid pulse.

4. Deficiency of both heart and spleen type: Symptoms include aggravated eye symptoms after fatigue, dizziness, eye swelling, slightly dilated pupils, blurred vision, rainbow vision, insomnia, tinnitus, fever in the five parts of the body, dry mouth and throat, red tongue with little coating, and thin and rapid pulse.

5. Liver and kidney deficiency type: Symptoms include a slow decrease in vision, a gradually narrowing field of vision, dilated pupils, soreness of the waist and knees, tinnitus, dry eyes, a red tongue, a thin white coating, and a thin pulse.

6. Hyperactivity of Liver Yang Type: Symptoms include sudden red eyes, blurred vision, corneal edema, dilated pupils, swollen and painful eyes, accompanied by headache, dizziness, flushed face, dry mouth, irritability, red tongue, yellow and greasy tongue coating, and stringy pulse.