What are the types of glaucoma?

There are 3 types of glaucoma:

(1) Infantile glaucoma (glaucoma in infancy or childhood)

(2) Primacy glaucoma, which constitutes most of the cases of glaucoma that are commonly seen

(3) Secondary glaucoma, which occurs due to injury or inflammation or tumour etc. of the eye. This is purely because of (i.e. is secondary to) various eye illness and will not be discussed.

What is infantile glaucoma?

This is glaucoma occurring in a child or infant. Though it is quite rare, it occurs with sufficient frequency to warrant interest.

The child or baby, in the earlier stages, has watering from the eyes, cannot stand the light and tends to screw his eyes.

Later, the clear cornea enlarges and becomes hazy.

Any of these complaints in a child should immediately prompt the parents to consult an eye specialist. Adequate vision can be restored if the complaint is attended to early enough.

What is primary glaucoma?

Primary glaucoma constitutes more than 99% of all cases of glaucoma.

There are 2 important types of primary glaucoma:

(a) Acute glaucoma

(b) Simple glaucoma.

What is acute glaucoma?

This is a type of glaucoma characterised by sudden acute pain in the eyes accompanied by vomiting. The eye is very red and congested. Vision is blurred and circles around lights are seen. It constitutes an emergency and must be immediately treated. Often patients tend to feel it is conjunctivitis (red eye) and delay treatment. Any red eye with fall of vision is serious enough to warrant an immediate visit to your eye doctor.

What is simple glaucoma?

This is the most important type of glaucoma and accounts for 90% of all glaucoma cases seen. Unlike the acute type of glaucoma which announces itself boldly, simple glaucoma insiduously "sneaks" in like a "thief in the night".

Often there is no warning and no sign of any eye problem till the vision falls and then it is too late. This type of glaucoma is usually only detected during a routine eye examination when the eye pressure or tension is checked. Detected early, it can, in most cases be controlled with simple drops with hardly any danger to the eye.

Dustin Flores

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