Retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma
Clinical background Glaucoma is a collection of optic neuropathies that exhibit similar clinical phenotypes of thinning of the nerve fiber layer and excavation or cupping of the optic nerve head….
Central nervous system changes in glaucoma
Clinical background Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and is estimated to affect approximately 67 million people worldwide. The pathological correlate of disease is the loss of retinal…
Pressure-induced optic nerve damage
Clinical background Glaucoma is a disease characterized by “a progressive, chronic optic neuropathy in adults where IOP [intraocular pressure] and other unknown factors contribute to damage and which in the…
Abnormal trabecular meshwork outflow
Clinical background Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the most common type of glaucoma, particularly in populations with European and African ancestry. This disease is the leading cause of blindness in…
Pigmentary dispersion syndrome and glaucoma
Overview Pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) and its potential sequela, pigmentary glaucoma (PG), are characterized by disruption of the iris pigment epithelium (IPE) and subsequent deposition of the dispersed pigment throughout…
Biomechanical changes of the optic disc
Clinical background Lowering intraocular pressure (IOP) remains the only proven method of preventing the onset and progression of glaucoma, yet the role of IOP in the disease remains controversial. This…
The lacrimal gland and dry-eye disease
Overview A consensus from the recent International Dry Eye Workshop revised the definition of dry-eye disease to: “Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that…
Dry eye : abnormalities of tear film mucins
In 2007, the Report of the International Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS) defined dry eye as “a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort,…
Herpetic keratitis
Clinical background Herpetic keratitis usually results from infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in adults and by HSV-2 in neonates. Occasionally the cause is varicella-zoster virus (VZV), either…
Steroid-induced glaucoma
Overview Glucocorticoids (GCs) regulate normal physiological processes such as carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism. However, GCs are most often used therapeutically because of their broad anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities (…
