acute glaucoma Acute (Closed-Angle) Glaucoma Famous musical composer Johann Sebastian Bach went blind in a violent flash, probably from acute (closed-angle) glaucoma. Bach thought he aggravated his weak vision by a lifetime of copying music in the dim light of church organ lofts.  His portrait shows a characteristic squint. Though a surgeon claimed to have operated successfully on Bach's eyes, the composer's vision failed again.  He died a few months later, after a futile and possibly harmful second operation. Acute glaucoma may seem the opposite of open-angle (acute glaucoma) because it erupts in violent attacks and intense pain, rather than emerging subtly. Yet patients may not notice minor telltale episodes, which pave the way for potentially serious seizures. People beset by a major seizure must get to an ophthalmologist, or at least a hospital emergency room, promptly in order to save their vision. Professional monitoring by your eye doctor can protect people prone to acute glaucoma from major attacks. Acute glaucoma attacks are emergencies because aqueous fluid gets trapped in the angle of the eye suddenly. Having nowhere to go, its abrupt backup can damage the optic nerves, eventually squashing them irreparably. Regular, thorough eye checkups can detect the risk of acute glaucoma. High intraocular pressure, family history, and other indicators resemble those for common glaucoma, but very farsighted people and those of Asian descent are the most vulnerable to angle-closure acute glaucoma.  Once a major angle-closure attack seems imminent, preventive laser surgery is often necessary, since an attack can damage the eye quickly. Regular monitoring of people diagnosed with narrow-angle acute conditions looks for increased intraocular pressure or tissue damage. Telltale symptoms of an attack include blurred vision, halos around lights, and eye pain sharp enough to induce vomiting. The eye often becomes reddened, feeling as if it could burst, even though it cannot literally burst. Persons experiencing such attacks should go immediately to an ophthalmologist or an emergency room, ideally calling in advance to ready staff to receive a case of closed-angle, acute glaucoma. Emergency procedures use eye drops and clinical eye massage to reduce intraocular pressure and prevent the eye from hardening. Once stabilized, the patient may have laser surgery to create an artificial opening for aqueous fluid to drain. Acute glaucoma usually attacks one eye before the other, so laser surgery on the unaffected eye may be recommended at the time to forestall a second attack there.  These options can often relieve these dangerous symptoms of acute glaucoma.