Glaucoma is a serious eye disease caused by an increase in the amount of pressure within the fluid of the eye. The great intraocular pressure (pressure inside the eye) can damage the optic nerve that takes messages of sight to the brain. Damage to the optic nerve can lead to blindness. Following cataracts, glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the United States.

Glaucoma can be classified into four major groups. Congenital or infantile glaucoma occurs a birth or infancy. In many cases the infant develops very large eyes, sometimes called ox eye because the sclera, one of the coverings of the eye, is not rigid. Acute glaucoma can be subdivided into primary open-angle glaucoma and primary angle-closure glaucoma. Open-angle glaucoma, the most common form, is a progressive loss of the field of vision usually starting with the peripheral vision so that the person does not realize...