Advances in Medicine and Biology. Volume 107

In: Advances in Medicine and Biology. Vol. 107 ISBN: 978 - 1 - 53610 - 056 - 3
Editor: Leon V. Berhardt © 201 6 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 9

EXFOLIATION SYNDROME AND

EXFOLIATIVE GLAUCOMA:

FROM GENETICS TO SURGERY

Gábor Holló^1 ,, MD, PhD, DSc

and Andreas Katsanos^2 , MD, PhD

(^1) Department of Ophthalmology,
Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
(^2) Department of Ophthalmology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

ABSTRACT

Exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is a genetically determined systemic

condition characterized by the production and accumulation of an

abnormal protein, the exfoliative material. Though XFS is a systemic

elastosis, the most significant clinical consequences occur in the eye

(nuclear cataract formation, Zinn’s zonule fragility, increased risk for

cataract surgery complications and exfoliative glaucoma XFG). XFG is

the most common type of secondary open-angle glaucoma, and is

characterized by elevated intraocular pressure with high fluctuation, and

rapid progression. XFG is typically a disease of the elderly. In many

cases XFG starts as a clinically unilateral disease in eyes with XFS. This

Corresponding author: Gábor Holló. Department of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University,
Mária u. 39, 1085 Budapest, Hungary. Tel: +36208258461, e-mail:
[email protected].