A 68-year-old woman who uses +4.00 diopter glasses for distance vision in both eyes. She consults because she has been having eye pain with headache and blurred vision at night when she is watching television in dim light for a few weeks. Which of the following pathologies is she most likely to have?
We are presented with a 68-year-old female patient. At that age the crystalline lens, although it does not normally have a cataract that needs surgery, it usually has increased in thickness. This implies that it projects the iris forward and reduces the depth of the anterior chamber. In an eye with a normal anterior chamber depth this is usually not a problem. But farsighted people already have a narrow anterior chamber. This is the usual combination we find in primary angular closure: farsightedness and age over 50-60 years. Younger hyperopes usually do not have this problem yet. And neither do older people who are emmetropic, myopic or have had cataract surgery. With this narrow angle, what triggers angular closure is mydriasis. That is, when you are in the penumbra, the pupil dilates and the iris thickens in the peripheral part, where it is already very close to the corneal endothelium in the case of a narrow chamber. Mydriasis then triggers angular closure, which is accompanied by ocular pain that may radiate backwards (headache). And increased intraocular pressure produces corneal edema that causes blurred vision. Therefore, option 1 is correct. Migraine does not have to be related to penumbra, and ocular pain and blurred vision is not particularly typical. Actinic keratitis is caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation (such as solar radiation), and is not related to hyperopia or to being in penumbra. In addition, the history of exposure is usually clear. And finally, dry eye does not produce these symptoms either: it is more a question of burning, foreign body sensation, heaviness, etc. And it is also unrelated to the other elements: penumbra, hyperopia, etc. As a minor detail, I would have worded the question a little better. It is understood that we are asked which pathology is the most probable in relation to the symptoms and the anamnesis. But as it is worded, we are asked about which of the pathologies she is most likely to present, just like that. Actually, a 68-year-old woman is very likely to have dry eye, even if it does not cause the symptoms for which she is presenting.
Primary angular closure glaucoma.
Migraine.
Actinic keratitis.
Dry eye syndrome.
That is, when you are in the penumbra, the pupil dilates and the iris thickens in the peripheral part, where it is already very close to the corneal endothelium in the case of a narrow chamber. Mydriasis then triggers angular closure, which is accompanied by ocular pain that may radiate backwards (headache). And increased intraocular pressure produces corneal edema that causes blurred vision. Therefore, option 1 is correct.
Migraine does not have to be related to penumbra, and ocular pain and blurred vision is not particularly typical.
Actinic keratitis is caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation (such as solar radiation), and is not related to hyperopia or to being in penumbra.
And finally, dry eye does not produce these symptoms either: it is more a question of burning, foreign body sensation, heaviness, etc. And it is also unrelated to the other elements: penumbra, hyperopia, etc.