ULTRASOUND BIOMICROSCOPY IN PSEUDOPHAKIC MALIGNANT GLAUCOMA

Background. Malignant glaucoma (ciliary block glaucoma; aqueous misdir ection glaucoma) is an incompletely understood, rare and serious compl ication of intraocular surgery. Methods: A woman with pseudophakic mal ignant glaucoma underwent successful neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) laser phot odisruption of the anterior hyaloid face with resolution of the glauco ma. High-resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy was used to image the ant erior segment and anterior chamber angle before and after laser surger y. Results: Ultrasound biomicroscopy provided cross-sectional images o f the iris, posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL), and ciliary body and their relative positions before and after resolution of the malig nant glaucoma. Anterior rotation of the ciliary body and anterior cham ber shallowing normalized after rupture of the anterior hyaloid face. Conclusion: High-resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy provided images c onsistent with accepted concepts of the pathophysiology of this diseas e and offers great promise for the future elucidation of the anatomic mechanisms underlying various forms of glaucoma.