The majority of patients affected by glaucoma won’t experience any symptom in the early stages of the illness. When they first notice some visual disturbance the optic nerve is usually extensively damaged and the loss of vision and visual field are irrecoverable.
Early diagnostic and treatment can prevent irreversible optic nerve damage and avoid progression of the glaucoma. It is crucial to perform periodical visits to detect the early changes of glaucoma in patients 40 or older, specially if there are risk factors as is a positive family history, high myopia, diabetes or other ocular diseases.
Tonometry or measuring the intraocular pressure is the first diagnostic method. This basic measurement has to be complemented with methods to diagnose the status of the optic nerve:
Computerized Visual Field testing can detect the characteristic pattern of visual loss presenting in glaucoma patients.
Optic Coherence Tomography (OCT) measures the thickness of the nerve fiber layer and the ganglion cell layer of the retina giving direct information on the degree of damage in these fundamental structures of the eye.
We routinely perform diagnostic examinations to all of our patients to guaranty that no glaucoma will go undiagnosed. These chronic pathologies require long term treatments, and it is fundamental a good patient-doctor communication.