Eye SchoolUrgent

This site provides general eye-health education. It cannot replace individual assessment by a registered doctor, and does not offer personal diagnosis, prescriptions, bookings, sales or referrals.

If translations differ or are incomplete, the Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant) text on this site prevails.

Lens and refraction · L

Hyperopia, shallow anterior chamber and the lens

Anterior chamber · angle · emergency signs

Last reviewed: 2026-10-06 · 潘家健醫生

Emergency · go to A&ESudden vision loss, a curtain, severe pain with vomiting, penetrating injury or chemical splash: go to A&E now. If you cannot get there: call 999. For chemicals, irrigate first with plenty of water. For penetrating injury / ruptured globe: do not press or self-irrigate (see urgent page).Sudden vision loss, a curtain, or sudden blindness: do not drive yourself to A&E — arrange a lift or call 999.If you cannot get there: call 999

Key points

  • Hyperopic eyes are shorter with a shallower chamber and narrower angle; angle closure is discussed more often in Chinese populations.
  • This page is not a call for every hyperope to have cataract surgery.
  • Acute angle-closure attack: severe pain, vomiting, rainbows, steamy cornea — A&E now; do not self-dilate.
  • Lens thickening and the angle are teaching concepts; individual care is specialist-led.

Hyperopic eyes are shorter, with a shallower chamber and narrower angle. The lens thickens with age. Angle-closure glaucoma is more common in Chinese people than in many Western populations. This is not a call for every hyperope to have cataract surgery.

Acute angle closure: pressure can rise to tens of mmHg — severe pain, vomiting, rainbow haloes, steamy cornea, a mid-dilated fixed pupil. Untreated hours can permanently damage the optic nerve. Go to A&E. Do not put in dilating drops or wait for a private clinic.

The EAGLE trial (Lancet 2016) enrolled people aged ≥50 without visually significant cataract, with newly diagnosed primary angle closure and IOP ≥30 mmHg, or primary angle-closure glaucoma. It compared early lens extraction with laser iridotomy. Results should not be generalised to every narrow angle or hyperope.

Key paper: Azuara-Blanco A et al. Lancet 2016.

Selected public references (not a full bibliography)

These are the public studies this page draws on. PMID links go to PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) so you can check them. Figures are from those studies — not your prognosis and not a clinic success rate. Links are not a shop.

  1. Azuara-Blanco A, Burr J, Ramsay C, et al. Effectiveness of early lens extraction for the treatment of primary angle-closure glaucoma (EAGLE): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2016;388(10052):1389-1397. PMID 27707497入組有嚴格條件（≥50 歲等），不能套用到所有窄房角或遠視。

This is general medical information, not a diagnosis, and cannot replace an in-person consultation with a registered ophthalmologist, refraction, or a dilated fundus exam. It is not advice to use any medicine or undergo any procedure. Medicines (including off-label use), laser or surgery must be decided by a registered doctor after examination, according to indications and Hong Kong registration. Figures from the literature are published averages, not any clinic’s results. This site does not book, prescribe or refer. Do not change treatment on your own.