Eyes of glaucoma victims are valuable after death if they are begueathed to research, Dr. W. Morton Grant said Sunday in the Louisiana State University School of Medicine.
jDr. Grant's colleague, Dr. Paul C: Chandler, added that those eyes left to eye banks such as the one in Boston are very useful in glaucoma research if they are not qualified for transplanting. The two Harvard University specialists were interviewed here during a Saturday and Sunday glaucoma conference sponsored by the medical school's department of ophthalmology.
Dr. Chandler said that Sunday's sessions dealt mostly with secondary glaucoma which is caused by some other disease of the eye, such as inflammation or by injuries.
DEVELOPS PRESSURE
Glaucoma is a condition arising when the thick fluid in the center of an eye begins to develop pressure, the doctors said, and what causes the building of pressure within the eye is a great mystery of medicine.
Dr. Grant, one of the top rated U.S. researchers in the field of glaucoma, discussed glaucoma in babies and children.
He said it is relatively rare, and is usually noticed when the child's eyes become hazy or when the child shies away from light.
Dr. Chandler said that another sign of congenital glaucoma is eyes that appear bigger than average. This type is best treated by surgery as early as possible, said Dr. Grant, who has performed surgery on a four-day old baby to correct the condition.
MATTER OF CONTROL
Dr. Chandler said that glaucoma detection centers are being set up in many communities to find unsuspected cases. He said people are becoming more glaucoma conscious, and most are aware that a test for glaucoma is part of an eye examination.
Dr. Grant pointed out that the most crommon misconception about glaucoma is the *'false impression that it means blindness." If diagnosed before it does irre-. parable damage, he said, it can be cured.
Dr. Chandler said that if it reaches the stage in which surgery is necessary, the patient rarely sees better, but the eyesight is saved. It is a matter of control, but not cure, he said.
Both doctors advocated an eye checkup every two years. Glaucoma can afflict persons of all ages, they warned.
Dr George haik . chairman oF the LSU ophthalmology department, said the conference attracted ophthalmologists from 36 states. It ended late Sunday after-, noon.
PHOTO: DEMONSTRATING a tonography machine, which checks the pressure in human eyes, is Miss Varia Adams, technician at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. Dr. Conrad Crregorj is the patient, and standing from left are Dr, George Ellis and Dr Luis Perez, spectators. The demonstrate was made Sunday afternoon during the last day of a conference on glaucoma.
