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Medical Author:

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, FACS

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, FACS

Andrew A. Dahl, MD, is a board-certified ophthalmologist. Dr. Dahl's educational background includes a BA with Honors and Distinction from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, and an MD from Cornell University, where he was selected for Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. He had an internal medical internship at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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With acute angle-closure glaucoma, because the rise in pressure is rapid, the symptoms also occur suddenly. Understandably, people who are experiencing acute angle-closure glaucoma are extremely uncomfortable and distressed.

Dramatic symptoms of acute angle-closure glaucoma include the following:

• Severe eye pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache
• Blurred vision and/or seeing haloes around lights (Haloes and blurred vision occur because the cornea is swollen.)
• Profuse tearing

In acute attacks of angle-closure glaucoma, it is common for only one eye to be involved and for symptoms to worsen over a few hours.

Some people may experience intermittent episodes of angle closure and elevated IOP without ever having a full-blown attack of angle-closure glaucoma. This is called subacute angle-closure glaucoma.

People with subacute angle-closure glaucoma may have no symptoms, or they may experience mild pain, have slightly blurred vision, or see haloes around lights. These symptoms resolve spontaneously as the angle reopens.

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