ANSWER COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT GLAUCOMA WITH DR. VU ANH TUAN (PART 2) | JAPAN INTERNATIONAL EYE HOSPITAL
Some special cases of people with Glaucoma can be mentioned as unstable intraocular pressure after treatment, illness during pregnancy. Are they dangerous and how to overcome them? Find out now with Dr. Vu Anh Tuan - a leading expert in the field of Glaucoma in Vietnam through the article below!
1. I was diagnosed with Glaucoma when I was only 2 months pregnant. Does the use of medication have any effect on the fetus? Can I have a normal birth? Will my child have Glaucoma?
Glaucoma medications to date have not harmed the development of the fetus. However, in the late stages of labor, when labor is approaching, some Glaucoma drugs can affect uterine muscle tone, leading to poor uterine contractions, labor may not be possible. as expected.
In this case, depending on the actual situation, the obstetrician-gynecologist may decide to perform surgery or give birth naturally to the patient.
Glaucoma has been shown to be an inherited disease.
The Glaucoma gene is dominant on chromosome 1 and some are accessory genes. When determining the gene that causes the disease, scientists confirm that this is a dominant inherited disease. An infected person has a 50% chance of passing the disease on to their child.
2. I was diagnosed with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma, was prescribed eye drops and lowered my pressure below 20mmHg. Now sometimes when I look at the lights I still see halos, foggy. Will my disease develop further in the long term? Is there a way to stop the disease from progressing?
In cases of drug use, if the intraocular pressure is below 20 mmHg, this is only the intraocular pressure at the time of examination.
The peculiarity of Glaucoma is that the intraocular pressure fluctuates greatly. Especially a lot of people have high eye pressure at night. When you visit your doctor during the day, your intraocular pressure may be relatively normal, but it may increase at night. There are some times, the patient's eyes will be more painful, seeing the lights have halos, that may be the time when the eye pressure increases.
To know if the disease has progressed or not, patients need to be monitored by measuring the field of vision and taking OCT of the optic nerve periodically every 2-3 months. If the disease has progressed, the results of field measurements and OCT scans have not changed significantly, then the disease can be assessed as stable.
However, it should be emphasized that stable treatment does not mean cure, but it only prevents the disease from progressing further thanks to treatment. Therefore, patients need to maintain treatment for the rest of their lives.
3. I found out I have subacute angle-closure Glaucoma 2 months ago. Although I have used the drug, I still have frequent headaches and eye sockets at night. Each time, the eyes appear halos and temporarily lose their vision, but after the pain, they return to normal. Can this disease be cured completely? Does my condition require surgery?
Fluctuating intraocular pressure is common with glaucoma. This means that the intraocular pressure may be normal at one time, but high at another time. The intraocular pressure at the time of examination will be different from that at midnight or early morning.
When the patient has a headache, pain in the eye socket, the appearance of halos, and temporary loss of vision, it is possible that the intraocular pressure is elevated.
To confirm this is true or not, the patient can monitor 24 hours, measure intraocular pressure continuously throughout the day and night, to find the time when the intraocular pressure is frequently elevated.
When the IOP is sometimes elevated, it also shows that the treatment has not been completed, not bringing the desired target IOP. Patients can refer to changing to drugs with long-lasting effects during the day and at night, or surgical treatment.
4. My eyes have stabilized after a period of Glaucoma treatment, do I need to continue treatment? Do I have to be treated for Glaucoma for the rest of my life?
Glaucoma treatment must be lifelong because it is a disease that can never be cured. If after a while, the eyes have stabilized but the patient stops treatment, stops going to the doctor, stops monitoring, it is a huge mistake. Glaucoma patients should pay attention to lifelong monitoring and treatment of Glaucoma to protect vision.
5. After Glaucoma treatment, can my eyes be cured and pain free? Can I stop taking the medicine after surgery?
Surgery is also an option to lower intraocular pressure if the surgery is completely successful. After surgery, the eye pressure will be at a safe level, the patient will no longer need to use medicine. However, the complete success rate is only 60% to 70%.
Remaining some cases, despite surgery, but still moderate intraocular pressure, may be slightly high or still as high as before surgery, and need to use additional medicine. Therefore, do not think that having surgery will completely heal.
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