What is a secondary glaucoma ?

Both chronic open-angle and acute angle-closure glaucoma are primary glaucomas which means that they are autonomous entities. There are however a vast number of “non-glaucomatous” eye diseases in which high intraocular pressure may occur as a complication of that disease: the elevated intraocular pressure and the potential glaucomatous damage are then said to be “secondary” to the original disease. Since these often serious forms of secondary glaucoma are a complication of another disease, one needs to treat the secondary glaucoma as well as the underlying disease. Certain drugs, for instance corticosteroid eye drops, may also cause an intraocular pressure rise and provoke glaucomatous damage. This is then considered to be a drug-induced secondary glaucoma.