Bilateral simultaneous acute angle closure in an adult Nepalese woman

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral simultaneous angle closure in an adult Nepalese woman without any known secondary cause. Methods: Observational case report. Results: A 50-year-old Nepalese woman presented with decreased vision, pain, redness, and watering in both eyes with associated coloured haloes, nausea, and vomiting for 10 days. At presentation, her visual acuity was 20/400 in the right eye and hand motions close to face with accurate projection of rays in the left eye. Intraocular pressure was 38 mmHg in the right eye and 48 mmHg in the left eye without any antiglaucoma medications. A slit-lamp examination revealed bilateral circum-corneal conjunctival congestion, corneal edema, and shallow anterior chambers. Both pupils were mid-dilated and non-reactive to light. Gonioscopy showed closed angles in all four quadrants bilaterally. Posterior segment examination revealed normal optic disc with cup-disc-ratio of 0.3 in the right eye, and blurring of disc margin with cup-disc-ratio of 0.3 in the left eye. The patient was started on systemic acetazolamide 250 mg 4 times a day, topical brimonidine 0.2% and timolol 0.5% 2 times a day, and topical dexamethasone 6 times a day in both eyes, following which IOP reduced to 11 and 12 mmHg, respectively, the corneal edema subsided, but the anterior chamber remained shallow. Laser peripheral iridotomy was performed in the right eye and surgical peripheral iridectomy was performed in the left eye. After two weeks, vision improved to 20/30 in both eyes with normal intraocular pressure off antiglaucoma medications. Anterior chambers deepened significantly with clear corneas bilaterally. Gonioscopy at this stage showed essentially open angles with appositional closure in superior and temporal quadrants in the right eye and open angles in all four quadrants in the left eye. Posterior segment evaluation revealed normal optic disc in both eyes. Conclusions: Bilateral simultaneous acute angle closure is a rare presentation with very few reported secondary causes. We report a case of bilateral simultaneous angle closure in an adult Nepalese woman without any known secondary cause. The case was successfully managed with laser peripheral iridotomy in the right eye and surgical peripheral iridectomy in the left eye.