Diagnosis of Glaucoma
Glaucoma can be diagnosed with a series of tests given by
a eye care specialist These tests are given during an eye exam that is
conducted in the eye care professional's office. The exam will
begin with the eye care professional or staff person asking
you questions about your personal and medical history and your
family's medical history.
To detect glaucoma, your eye care professional will
do the following:
Visual acuity - This test measures how well you
see at various distances. You will be asked to look at a chart of letters or
numbers and identify what you see.
Tonometry - This test measures the pressure
inside the eye. There are several types of tonometry; in air tonometry, a puff of
air is sent onto the cornea to take the measurement. Another
type uses a plastic prism that lightly pushes against your eye
in order to measure your intraocular pressure. For this test,
the eye is first numbed with an eye drop.
Gonioscopy-The eye care professional can see the
drainage angle of your eye using a special lens. This can help determine if you
are at risk for closed-angle glaucoma.
Pupil dilation - Drops are put in your eyes that
enlarge/dilate your pupils. This allows the eye care professional to see more
of the inside of your eye. Your close-up (near) vision may
remain blurred for several hours afterwards.
Ophthalmoscopy - Once your pupils are dilated, the eye
care professional will examine your optic nerve and the rest of your retina with an
instrument called an ophthalmoscope. The color and appearance
of the optic nerve may indicate if damage from glaucoma is
present and how extensive it is.
Perimetry (visual field test) - This test produces a
map of your field of vision. It is used to check whether there is damage to any
area of vision.
Pachymetry - Your physician may measure the thickness
of your cornea using a special machine called a corneal pachymeter.
If the eye care professional finds evidence that you have
glaucoma, you might begin a treatment program. Glaucoma cannot be cured, but
treatment can help control the disease.
SOURCES:
American Academy of Ophthalmology
Glaucoma Research Institute
National Eye Institute
Last reviewed September 2003 by Marc Ellman, MD
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