Talk:Pigment dispersion syndrome

note

How is this diagnosed? Toby 12:06, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Through acute-angle eye exams. When the aqueous humor is illuminated correctly, "Krukenberg's spindle" appears to the examiner, a pattern of accumulated pigment particles (named after the original discoverer) which (I believe) always appears in the eyes of afflicted people. While my eyes show what I believe to be evidence of pigmentary loss to the naked eye—random empty patches in the iris pigment—I don't think this is a necessary (or possibly even directly causal) indicator for the syndrome.

In any event, I feel lucky to have been examined at an optometry institute rather than, say, a 'storefront' as I believe the syndrome is rare and obscure enough that many years-out-of-school optometrists wouldn't catch it until glaucoma symptoms appear, despite the standardization of acute-angle examinations in the field of optometry.Gropo 20:59, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

PDS

HOW IT IS DIAGNOSED: All due respect to the notation above, PDS is not diagnosed specifically through an acute-angle eye exam. If anything, it would probably be missed by most doctors if not searching specifically for PDS. So as to not confuse people, it should also be noted that PDS is not acute-angle glaucoma. Also to make sure as to no confusion, if your eye doctor says that they notice the Krukenberg spindle, this does not indicate that you most certainly have PDS. Krukenberg has also been desribed in other conditions such as uveitus, trauma and previous eye surgery.

How it is diagnosed is by means of various exams depicting the presence of trans-illumiation defects on the iris, pigment on the outer surface of the cornea and heavy pigmentation on the trabecular meshwork. Usually it's diagnosed as PDS when at least two of those conditions are present. High IOP and other factors may also come in to play.

CURE: There is no "cure" so-to-speak. It doesn't reverse itself. Once you realize you have this disease, you only have the possibility of slowing the progression into pigmentary glaucoma via eye drops, laser and/or surgery.

DRUGS: I continued to search for drugs that would keep my eye pressure under control. I have found that for me, Cosopt and Xalatan work best. Cosopt has been the most effective of these two. I use Pilocarpine before exercise. This has worked EXTREMELY well and I am able to keep my average eye pressure down in the high teens (where it sometimes was up in the low 30s!) Pilocarpine is an old drug, but very effective in my case. NY Eye Institute has made notation of a Pilocarpine insert for under the eye lid (that they say was very very effective according to the studies), but has informed me that this is no longer available by the manufacturer. Nice (sarcasm).

DISCUSSION GROUP

Many people are left confused and frustrated when they leave the doctor's office. While patients with PDS have to realize that this disease is not all black and white, patients do have options and are entitled to learn about this disease without being left in the dark. I now have a group and it is located at the URL noted below. This group will include only members with PDS or PG. I will have reference links to useful medical information that I have found over the years all in one convenient place. But most of all, this group will consist of something that is more invaluable than any definitions or medical books can provide, other people with PDS, like you and I - stories, history, experiences.

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pigment/

Information can only be viewed if you are a member; this is to help keep privacy wrapped up a bit tighter than open to the entire world ! :) I understand that some people are not sure if what they have is PDS or not. If you do not want to join the group, I can still be reached at mailto:shawn@photoshawn.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.120.172.195 (talk) 17:17, 19 June 2011 (UTC)