Drainage and its Effect on Intraocular Pressure
Aqueous humor is a liquid secreted by the eye. Aqueous humor fills the anterior and posterior chambers with fluid. The production of aqueous humor is essential to normal function of the human eye. The balance between production and drainage of the aqueous humor helps the eye to maintain a certain size and shape. Aqueous humor is produced in the posterior chamber, and it is drained from the anterior chamber. The peripheral part of the anterior chamber, between the cornea and the iris region is referred to as the filtration angle. It is filled with a delicate connective tissue webwork, the trabecular meshwork through which the flowing aqueous humor percolates. The production of the aqueous humor is a constant process and its removal is vitally important.
Normal intraoccular pressure (IOP) maintains the normal shape and size of the eyeball, fulfilling the mechanical requirements to keep an image in focus. If the balance is disturbed it results in vision problems. Julia Talsma of Ophthalmology Times explains that establishing an appropriate IOP target is the key to proper long-term management of eye diseases (Talsma, 71). Blurred vision is a symptom of increased IOP, which can result from either overproduction of aqueous humor or damage to the drainage system. This blurred vision is referred to in ophthalmology as glaucoma. Uncorrected, glaucoma can damage the eye, causing injury to the retina or optic nerve, and lead to blindness through damage to the optic nerve.
According to James Distelhorst and Grady Hughes of American Family Physician, the two main types of glaucoma are open angle glaucoma, or primary open angle glaucoma, and angle closure glaucoma. Primary open angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma happens when the eye's drainage canals become clogged over time. IOP rises because the correct amount of fluid can't drain out of the eye. With
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