Secondary glaucoma in a 76 year old male following couching by a traditional healer: A case report

Abstract

Any opacity or loss of transparency of the lens that caused diminution or impairment of vision is called cataract. Treatment of cataract is by surgical extraction. Couching is the earliest form of cataract surgery, traced to Assyria in 1700 BC. Couching procedures result on lens luxation, or subluxation or dislodgement, not an extraction. Lens luxation may be associated with many complications, some of which are vision threatening. Forward dislodgement of the lens into the anterior chamber can cause damage to the corneal endothelium and induce acute secondary angle-closure glaucoma. Obstruction to aqueous outflow can also result as a direct consequence of damage to the trabecular meshwork. This is a case report of a 76 year-old black male who developed acute secondary angle-closure glaucoma, 8 months after undergoing couching by a traditional healer.

Key words: Cataract, couching, Secondary glaucoma lens dislodgement.