Pseudophakic pupillary block with angle-closure glaucoma in diabetic patients

Six diabetic patients (five women and one man, 63 to 79 years old) developed pseudophakic pupillary block with angle-closure glaucoma two days to one year after undergoing extracapsular cataract extraction. None of the six had had a peripheral iridectomy during the procedure. Symptoms included pain and visual loss. Corneal edema and intraocular pressures as high as 80 mm Hg were also present. Laser iridotomies decreased the intraocular pressure in three cases but failed in a fourth. In one case corneal edema prevented laser treatment but a surgical peripheral iridectomy was successful. One eye with central retinal vein occlusion was treated with panretinal photocoagulation and trabeculectomy.