UBM scan

hi everyone

Have a scan tomorrow to look at the structural anatomy of my eye, has anyone been through this?

I’ve been told that the results will be sent to the consultant and he will decide from there so I won’t get the results the same day,

They are looking at the angles in my eyes, the consultant explained to me that the ‘side ones’ are narrow, but the top and bottom are draining , which is odd? I’m confused by the explanation. My pressures in both eyes are 18 and he also suspects plateau iris.

I am severely anxious with a diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder. So I would very much appreciate any advice on guidance from anyone who has been through this process.

I have emailed the glucoma uk helpline as advised in a previous post but no one has gotten back to me

Thanks for reading

[AlfredV]

I have had a UBM although it was a few years ago now. From what I recall they used the same sort of anaesthetic drops your consultant uses in an examination in clinic. The UBM wand is then moved around the surface of your eye to take the reading. They used a lot of gel.

It was a painless experience with no real discomfort and probably didn't take more than a few minutes for each eye.

My understanding is the "angles" are the continuous drainage channel around the entire periphery of the iris. It is possible for it to be narrower in some places than others, and the UBM will give them a clearer picture of this.

I've also been treated for plateau iris which itself was a fairly simple laser procedure. It was successful although I went on to have other eye issues for unrelated reasons.

[Hidden in reply to AlfredV]

Thankyou so much I really appreciate you taking the time to reply, did the scan confirm plateau iris and was the laser carried out as a preventative measure?

[AlfredV in reply to Hidden]

I'd had laser iridotomies as a preventative measure for angle closure and was then diagnosed with plateau iris. This was treated successfully with a laser iridoplasty.

For a short period my eye pressures did reduce to very acceptable values, but then shortly afterwards started getting higher and higher with very high spikes. I think this was likely coincidental as I suffered a number of serious health issues following a bad reaction to some antibiotics, one of which is high eye pressure/glaucoma.

In short I think my treatments for acute angle glaucoma worked well, but I had other issues which later needed intervention.

The person that did my UBM was a glaucoma consultant (although not my lead consultant) and did talk to me about the result immediately afterwards. I'm guessing this might not always be the case though.

[Hidden in reply to AlfredV]

Thankyou again for you reply. I’m sorry to hear that you had been unwell at that time also.

My consultant said the scan will determine plateau iris and whether I need laser or not. Where you’re pressured very high prior to the laser? The consultant told me that I’m asymptomatic currently and my pressures were 18.

I’m just really confused as to what’s going on to be honest, it feels like I’m in abit of a daze and there’s all these Willy grey areas about things, which as a black and white type of thinker it’s driving me mad.

Thankyou so much again for your time I really do appreciate it I have very little support so it means a lot Thankyou

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

*silly

[AlfredV in reply to Hidden]

From memory, my pressures were marginally high at that time, maybe 24-25 most of the time, but I also have very thick corneas which can cause an exaggerated reading. That said, some consultants said I had the beginnings of glaucoma and others did not. Following the iridoplasties I did briefly see pressures in the low teens, but for reasons I mentioned earlier they then went up into the mid 30s within weeks, occasionally peaking over 50. This wasn't due to the narrow angles though.

[Hidden in reply to AlfredV]

Also, did they given you any information at the time of the scan, if forgot to note that this is being done for me by the nhs and not private

Thanks again