Which glaucoma type is an acute emergency with severe eye pain and red eye, often treated with laser peripheral iridotomy?

Which glaucoma type is an acute emergency with severe eye pain and red eye, often treated with laser peripheral iridotomy?

• A. Open-angle glaucoma
• B. Closed-angle glaucoma
• C. Presbyopia
• D. Hordeolum

Answer: (B)

An acute angle-closure glaucoma is an emergency because the drainage angle suddenly narrows or closes, causing a rapid rise in intraocular pressure. This produces the intense eye pain, a red eye, and often halos around lights that the scenario describes, and it can be accompanied by headache, nausea, or vomiting. Because the pressure spikes quickly, urgent treatment is needed to protect vision. Laser peripheral iridotomy is used to relieve the blockage by creating a small hole in the iris. This provides an alternate pathway for aqueous humor to flow, opening the blocked angle and reducing the risk of recurrent pressure spikes. It’s a defining treatment for this condition, aiming to prevent lasting optic nerve damage from another sudden attack. Open-angle glaucoma tends to be a gradual, painless increase in eye pressure with slow peripheral vision loss, not an abrupt emergency. Presbyopia is age-related difficulty focusing on near objects, and a Hordeolum is a stye on the eyelid—neither matches the acute, painful, red-eye presentation of angle-closure glaucoma.

An acute angle-closure glaucoma is an emergency because the drainage angle suddenly narrows or closes, causing a rapid rise in intraocular pressure. This produces the intense eye pain, a red eye, and often halos around lights that the scenario describes, and it can be accompanied by headache, nausea, or vomiting. Because the pressure spikes quickly, urgent treatment is needed to protect vision.

Laser peripheral iridotomy is used to relieve the blockage by creating a small hole in the iris. This provides an alternate pathway for aqueous humor to flow, opening the blocked angle and reducing the risk of recurrent pressure spikes. It’s a defining treatment for this condition, aiming to prevent lasting optic nerve damage from another sudden attack.

Open-angle glaucoma tends to be a gradual, painless increase in eye pressure with slow peripheral vision loss, not an abrupt emergency. Presbyopia is age-related difficulty focusing on near objects, and a Hordeolum is a stye on the eyelid—neither matches the acute, painful, red-eye presentation of angle-closure glaucoma.