Which type of glaucoma is typically chronic and asymptomatic in the early stage?

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Multiple Choice

Which type of glaucoma is typically chronic and asymptomatic in the early stage?

Open-angle glaucoma is the form that tends to run a chronic, insidious course in the early stage. The drainage angle between the iris and cornea remains open, but outflow through the trabecular meshwork is gradually impaired. As intraocular pressure rises slowly, there are usually no noticeable symptoms initially, and peripheral vision is lost first, with central vision preserved until later. This contrasts with angle-closure glaucoma, which tends to present abruptly with eye pain, redness, halos, and visual disturbance, and with normal tension glaucoma, where optic neuropathy occurs despite normal IOP. Therefore, the early, asymptomatic, slowly progressive pattern is characteristic of open-angle glaucoma.

Open-angle glaucoma is the form that tends to run a chronic, insidious course in the early stage. The drainage angle between the iris and cornea remains open, but outflow through the trabecular meshwork is gradually impaired. As intraocular pressure rises slowly, there are usually no noticeable symptoms initially, and peripheral vision is lost first, with central vision preserved until later. This contrasts with angle-closure glaucoma, which tends to present abruptly with eye pain, redness, halos, and visual disturbance, and with normal tension glaucoma, where optic neuropathy occurs despite normal IOP. Therefore, the early, asymptomatic, slowly progressive pattern is characteristic of open-angle glaucoma.

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