Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma from Spontaneous Massive Hemorrhagic Retinal Detachment

PURPOSE: To report a case of acute angle-closure glaucoma resulting from spontaneous hemorrhagic retinal detachment. METHODS: An 81-year-old woman visited our emergency room for severe ocular pain and vision loss in her left eye. Her intraocular pressures (IOPs) were 14 mmHg in the right eye and 58 mmHg in the left eye. Her visual acuity was 0.4 in the right eye but she had no light perception in the left eye. The left anterior chamber depth was shallow and gonioscopy of the left eye showed a closed angle. In comparison, the right anterior chamber depth was normal and showed a wide, open angle. Computed tomography and ultrasonography demonstrated retinal detachment due to subretinal hemorrhage. After systemic and topical antiglaucoma medications failed to relieve her intractable severe ocular pain, she underwent enucleation. RESULTS: The ocular pathology specimen showed that a large subretinal hemorrhage caused retinal detachment and pushed displaced the lens-iris diaphragm, resulting in secondary angle-closure glaucoma. CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged anticoagulant therapy may cause hemorrhagic retinal detachment and secondary angle-closure glaucoma. If medical therapy fails to relieve pain or if there is suspicion of an intraocular tumor, enucleation should be considered as a therapeutic option.