Glaucoma

Glaucoma is actually a group of eye diseases that are usually due to intraocular hypertension, or increased pressure in the eye, which damages the optic nerve and if left untreated can lead to blindness.

Taking a closer look at this cross section of the eye, you can see that it’s split up into different chambers: The anterior chamber includes the area from the cornea to the iris, the posterior chamber is this really narrow space between the iris and the lens.

And then this larger vitreous chamber includes the space between the lens and the back of the eye.

Not to be too confusing, but both the anterior and posterior chambers are located in the anterior segment of the eye, while the vitreous chamber is part of the posterior segment of the eye.

Typically all of the chambers in the eye are filled with fluid.

The chambers in the anterior section are filled with a liquid called aqueous humor, and the posterior section is filled with vitreous humor.

The aqueous humor is a transparent, watery fluid that is secreted by the ciliary epithelium, which in addition to secreting aqueous humor and providing nutrients to the lens and cornea, it provides structural support and helps to keep the shape of the eye.

So that fluid’s secreted into the posterior chamber, and then flows through a narrow space between the front of the lens and the back of the iris through the pupil to the anterior chamber.

From there the fluid flows out of the eye through the trabecular meshwork, which is a spongy tissue that acts like a drain, and this allows the fluid to go down into a circular channel called the canal of Schlemm and finally into aqueous veins that are part of the episcleral venous system—the veins around the sclera of the eye.