[Chronic closed-angle glaucoma]

Five times more frequent than the acute form, chronic closed-angle glaucoma often goes unrecognized for a long time, resulting in considerable visual field deficiencies, even in loss of the eye. It is sometimes confused with chronic glaucoma and treated as such, which is inadequate to halt the progression of the disease. Only gonioscopy can diagnose it. If doubt persists, UBM (ultrasound biomicroscopy) can detect goniosynechiae, a malposition of the ciliary body or of the lens, or the existence of iridociliary cysts. Nine times out of ten, pupillary block initiates the process and an iridotomy should always be done to remediate it, even if this procedure alone does not always suffice to solve the problem.