Glaucoma Service

Glaucoma is the name for a number of related conditions where the nerve of sight is damaged by the pressure inside the eyeball.

In the most common form of glaucoma, there are no symptoms until very late in the disease.

The peripheral vision is slowly lost, but this is often not noticed in day-to-day living until the disease is advanced and finally the central vision is affected.

Hence, glaucoma has been called the “thief of sight.” Other forms of glaucoma can cause severe eye pain and rapid visual loss.
Risk factors for glaucoma include increasing age and a family history.

We recommend that all people over the age of 40 with a family history have an eye check by an ophthalmologist.

The treatment for glaucoma is essentially to lower the pressure in the eye. This is still the treatment even if the pressure starts in the normal range.
Lowering the eye pressure can be achieved by 3 different methods:

1. Eye drops, which reduce the amount of fluid the eye makes or increase the outflow of fluid
2. Laser, which opens up the blocked outflow pathways
3. Surgery, which mechanically unblocks the drainage pathways.

Although there is currently no cure for glaucoma, when caught early, it is usually manageable and does not lead to loss of vision. But treatment is life long.

The Glaucoma Service

The Glaucoma Service at the Central Northern Ophthalmology Network is committed to enhancing patient care related to glaucoma through clinical service, research, and education, it is staffed by a team of highly experienced ophthalmologists at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Lyell McEwin Health Service.

Our Service is responsible for the care of the vast majority of hospital-treated glaucoma patients in South Australia and sees around 10,000 patients annually.

We are committed to excellence in eye care and provide a world-class diagnostic and treatment service. We use state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment including computerized peripheral field testing, advanced optic nerve imaging analysis and have at our disposal all forms of technologically advanced treatment options, including modern laser therapy. Our expert eye surgeons perform many operations for glaucoma annually, using world-class techniques and refinements which greatly improve the surgical outcomes.

We have a commitment to teaching and research and our trainee eye doctors are recognized as some of the best trained in the world.

Our research includes clinical, post graduate, public health and laboratory-based studies and aims to provide a better understanding of all aspects of glaucoma so that we might optimize the care of our patients and one day relegate glaucoma blindness to the history books.

The Glaucoma Service also offers a Glaucoma Fellowship, please see the Fellowship outline