BUPHTHALMOS

Course overview

THE WORD BUPHTHALMOS ORIGINATES FROM THE GREEK WORD "OX-EYED." CONGENITAL ENLARGEMENT OF THE EYE WAS RECOGNIZED AS EARLY AS 400 BC BY HIPPOCRATES, AND LATER BY CELSUS AND GALEN IN THE FIRST AND SECOND CENTURIES AD RESPECTIVELY, BUT IT WAS NOT RELATED TO INCREASED INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE. IT WAS JUST AFTER THE 19TH CENTURY, WITH THE INVENTION OF THE OPHTHALMOSCOPE AND TONOMETER, AND WITH PRECISE ANATOMICAL DISSECTION, THAT THIS CONDITION WAS RELATED TO RAISED INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE (IOP). AT PRESENT, THE TERM "BUPHTHALMOS" IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE VISIBLE ENLARGEMENT OF THE EYEBALL DETECTED AT BIRTH OR SOON AFTER, DUE TO ANY UNCONTROLLED GLAUCOMA IN EARLY CHILDHOOD. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PRESENTATION OF BUPHTHALMOS AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ITS MANAGEMENT.