[Acute angle closure and angle closure glaucoma: Phacoemulsification as first-line treatment].

Angle closure glaucoma is characterized by an optic neuropathy with a glaucomatous visual field defect with a white painless eye and mimics primary open-angle glaucoma. Acute angle closure attack is more symptomatic, with a red painful eye and elevated intraocular pressure. In both cases, iridocorneal angle closure is due to an increase in the thickness of the natural lens, which with age has a tendency to close a narrow angle. The rational approach to treating these situations is lens extraction. With today's improved lens extraction techniques, this surgical treatment should be proposed more frequently. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.