What is congenital glaucoma?

  Congenital glaucoma is a condition in which the atrial angle structure is congenitally abnormal due to developmental disorders during the embryonic period or residual embryonic tissue that blocks the atrial aqueous drainage channel, resulting in elevated intraocular pressure and an increasing size of the entire eye, hence the name bull’s eye, or developmental glaucoma.  I. Etiology of congenital glaucoma The elevated intraocular pressure due to atrial aqueous drainage is not combined with other structural abnormalities of the eye, except for the manifestation of atrial angle abnormalities. The atrial angle is a translucent membrane covering the trabecular surface, which is an impermeable surface membrane that blocks atrial aqueous drainage and is called congenital mesangial tissue remnant. It may be due to the failure of the atrial horn tissue to assemble and align properly during development, the failure of the scleral crest to grow properly, and the inability of the ciliary muscle to move back to the scleral crest, all on the trabeculae. Due to this reason, the trabeculae are stretched and squeezed by the muscle fibers and the trabecular column is thickened and the gap for atrial fluid flow is lost.  Second, congenital glaucoma (infantile type) This type of glaucoma is primary or secondary to other ocular congenital anomalies and eye diseases. Congenital glaucoma that occurs in utero can show typical manifestations at birth, such as eye enlargement and corneal clouding.  1, photophobia, lacrimation and blepharospasm: are the result of early corneal edema accompanied by corneal irritation symptoms.  2, corneal clouding: initially epithelial and subepithelial edema, causing mild milky clouding. When the parenchymal edema is more obvious clouding. After the eye pressure is reduced, the cornea becomes transparent, and in the late stage is permanently cloudy.  3, corneal enlargement: corneal edema, eye pressure continues to rise, the wall of the eye by the pressure and expansion, so that the whole eye constantly enlarged, bull’s-eye shape, corneal diameter up to about 12mm.  4, posterior corneal elastic layer rupture: when the cornea is dilated, the posterior elastic layer occurs horizontal bending linear, or dendritic rupture.  5, optic papillary depression enlargement: depending on the length of the disease and the level of intraocular pressure, resulting in different degrees of physiological depression enlargement. In the advanced stage, the cornea becomes more cloudy, the anterior chamber is deeper, the eye is more enlarged, and the optic papillary depression is enlarged and irreversible. Eventually, the eye develops into atrophy.