Glaucoma primary angle-closure

Acute primary angle-closure glaucoma is a medical emergency and requires laser or surgical intervention. 

Patients with ocular hypertension or primary open-angle glaucoma typically have a slow, insidious loss of vision. This is contrasted by the course of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma which can lead to rapid vision loss that develops over hours to days. 

PACG primary angle-closure glaucoma POAG primary open-angle glaucoma... 

American Academy of Ophthalmology Glaucoma Panel. Primary Angle Closure. San Francisco American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2005. 

Primary angle closure glaucoma (also known as acute close-angle or narrow-angle glaucoma) results from blockage of aqueous humour flow into the anterior chamber. The condition develops very quickly with a sudden increase in eye pressure. The eyes become very painful and red. 

Since its introduction into clinical practice in 1876, pilocarpine has remained the most usefiil miotic for management of primary open-angle glaucoma, acute angle-closure glaucoma, and many secondary glaucomas. Pilocarpine is commercially arailable as an ophthalmic solution in concentrations from 0.25% to 10% (see Table 10-7). Pilocarpine is also commercially available as a 4% ophthalmic gel that is supplied in 3 5-g tubes. 

In the United States an estimated 2.2 million people aged 40 years and older have been diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma, and that number is expected to reach 3.3 million by the year 2020. Worldwide, primary angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) accounts for almost half of all cases of blindness due to glaucoma. 

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