Buphthalmus
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
Buphthalmus, also known as hydrophthalmus or congenital glaucoma, is a disease occurring in childhood characterized by significant stretching of the eyeball. It is caused by congenital absence or underdevelopment of Schlemm's canal, leading to increased intraocular pressure, which stretches the elastic eye walls in children, resulting in high axial myopia, optic nerve atrophy, and eventual blindness.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
BUPHTHALMUS, buphthalmus or hydr-ophthalmus (congenital glaucoma), a disease observed in childhood and characterized by significant stretching of the eyeball. The cause of B. g. is apparently the congenital absence or underdevelopment of Schlemm's canal - the main drainage pathway for intraocular fluid. The resulting delay in outflow causes an increase in intraocular pressure, which stretches the still quite elastic and pliable walls of the eye in children. Along with stretching and thinning of the scleral shell, leading to the development of high axial myopia in such eyes, B. g. shows changes characteristic of glaucoma (see) in the optic nerve head (glaucomatous excavation), followed by the development of optic atrophy and a rapid decline in central and peripheral vision. The process almost inevitably leads to blindness. Therapy for B. g. is predominantly surgical; miotic agents are of little effectiveness here.
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Cite this page
“Buphthalmus.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/buphthalmus/