Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2003 Oct;110(10):1880-9.
doi: 10.1016/S0161-6420(03)00563-3.

Angle closure in younger patients

Robert Ritch  1 , Brian M Chang, Jeffrey M Liebmann
Affiliations
Review

Angle closure in younger patients

Robert Ritch et al. Ophthalmology. 2003 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Angle-closure glaucoma is rare in children and young adults; only scattered cases associated with specific clinical entities have been reported. We evaluated the findings in patients aged 40 or younger with angle closure in our database.

Design: Retrospective noncomparative case series.

Participants: Our database was searched for patients aged 40 years or younger with angle closure. Data recorded included age at initial consultation, age at the time of diagnosis, gender, slit-lamp examination, gonioscopy, ultrasound biomicroscopy (from 1993 onward), clinical diagnosis, and therapy. Patients with prior incisional surgery were excluded, as were patients with anterior chamber proliferative mechanisms leading to angle closure.

Results: Sixty-seven patients (49 females, 18 males) met entry criteria. Mean age at the time of consultation was 34.4 +/- 9.4 (standard deviation) years (range, 3-68 years). Diagnoses included plateau iris syndrome (35 patients); iridociliary cysts (8 patients); retinopathy of prematurity (7 patients); uveitis (5 patients); isolated nanophthalmos (3 patients); relative pupillary block (2 patients); Weill-Marchesani syndrome (3 patients); and 1 patient each with Marfan syndrome, miotic-induced angle closure, persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous, and idiopathic lens subluxation.

Conclusions: The etiology of angle closure in young individuals differs from the older population and is typically associated with structural/developmental ocular anomalies rather than relative pupillary block. After laser iridotomy, these eyes should be monitored for recurrent angle closure and the need for additional laser or incisional surgical intervention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources