Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute’s fully integrated model helps us provide patients with quick and easy access to specialty and sub-specialty care for a wide spectrum of eye conditions – from the routine to the complex. Each year, our internationally recognized staff carries out more than 160,000 patient visits and performs more than 6,000 surgeries. Our glaucoma staff specializes in the diagnosis and the medical and surgical management of primary, secondary and complicated glaucoma in patients of all ages. The Cole Eye Institute staff’s clinical expertise includes:<br/><br/> • Cornea and External Diseases<br/><br/> • Vitreoretinal<br/><br/> • Glaucoma<br/><br/> • Neuro-Ophthalmology<br/><br/> • Pediatrics and Adult Strabismus<br/><br/> • Oculoplastics<br/><br/> • Oncology/Eye Tumors<br/><br/> • Uveitis<br/><br/> • Laser Vision Correction Surgery<br/><br/> Edward J. Rockwood, MD is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Director of the Glaucoma Fellowship Program. He received his undergraduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduating with a BS in biology. He continued with medical school at State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Science. Dr. Rockwood next completed his residency in ophthalmology at Cleveland Clinic, followed by a clinical and research fellowship in glaucoma at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Since 1986, he has been a staff physician in the Glaucoma Department at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute. Dr. Rockwood has been listed in Best Doctors in America from 2003 to present.<br/><br/> The focus of this Health Chat will be on Glaucoma.<br/><br/> Glaucoma is a condition characterized by increased pressure in the eye and impaired eyesight, ranging from slight vision loss to total blindness. Glaucoma is not a single disease, but a group of eye diseases that have one feature in common: progressive damage to the optic nerve caused by increased pressure within the eyeball. The pressure comes from a clear fluid called the aqueous humor. This fluid helps to nourish the eye, and flows in and out of the eye through a mesh-like channel.<br/><br/> In people with glaucoma, the fluid does not drain properly and pressure builds up in the eye, damaging the nerve that transmits images to the brain. As this deterioration of the optic nerve continues, vision worsens, and eventually, blindness can result.<br/><br/>