Is Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure Related to Glaucoma?
New evidence is emerging that low cerebrospinal fluid pressure may be a significant contributor to optic nerve damage in glaucoma, the complex eye disorder that affects more than 2.2 million Americans over age 40. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the fluid that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord, also surrounds the optic nerve and helps maintain appropriate pressure on the optic disc. All forms of glaucoma damage the disc of the eyes optic nerve, compromise the transmission of images to the brain, and eventually result in blindness if untreated. Intraocular pressure, IOP, is a key measurement taken by eye specialists when screening people for glaucoma, but abnormal IOP is now considered just one of several factors that play a role. Glaucoma researchers are increasingly interested in how the interaction of IOP and CSF pressure, termed the translaminar pressure difference, affects the optic nerve disc. John Palmer Berdahl, MD, and his team compared the medical records of 28 patients who h
