Retinal Detachment and Glaucoma.

TRAUMATIC retinal detachment may or may not be associated with hypotony. In some cases iridocyclitis precedes the detachment, which is then termed secondary (Duke-Elder, 1940), and in these circumstances there is frequently a marked hypotension. Rarely, however, the reverse may occur and a detachment may be associated with a secondary iridocycitis giving rise to secondary glaucoma. This is thought be due to the liberation of irritant substances from the retina. Even more rarely the development ofa secondary rise in ocular tension may cause a reduction in the extent and depth of the retinal detachment. Sedan (1928) reported a case of this type. Vogt (1936) described two such cases, in the first of which hypotony with retinal detachment alternated every few weeks with hypertension and re-attachment of the retina. The second case was one of cataract with secondary glaucoma; 5 days after the cataract extraction there developed a retinal detachment associated with hypotension, and 6 months later the ocular tension rose again and the retina became re-attached. The present history is that of a case in which detachment associated with hypotony alternated with re-attachment of the retina and hypertension.