A fundamental concept in glaucoma is that it represents a variety of conditions that differ markedly in clinical presentation, course, and appropriate treatment. This may cause confusion, for example, when a physician advises against the use of over-the-counter cold medications because they may aggravate glaucoma, without informing patients that this applies only to certain types of glaucoma. This two-volume textbook sorts out the varying kinds of glaucoma (open-angle vs closed, acute vs chronic, primary vs secondary, congenital vs acquired, etc) and provides a comprehensive overview of current glaucoma pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment.
The expanding knowledge of the various glaucomas over the past decade, as exemplified by the length of this textbook, is unfortunately more than matched by the continuing gaps in the understanding of what causes intraocular pressure to rise and how this leads to visual field loss in affected patients.
Frustratingly little is understood about the etiology of open-angle