"Staten Islander, 49, Nearly Goes Blind; Shares Her Story To Warn Others" - Anne Marie Barron
Julia Murdocca nearly went blind, and she wants others to learn from her mistake. Murdocca, 49, of Tottenville, said she won’t put off her routine eye exam ever again -- not after an undetected rare form of glaucoma nearly took her vision permanently a few weeks ago. When Paul Sidoti, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai checked her eye pressure he detected acute angle-closure glaucoma and urged her to have a laser treatment, called an iridotomy, on both eyes -- immediately. According to Dr. Sidoti, “It was pretty lucky. Glaucoma in most forms is asymptomatic. The visual loss is irreversible.”
— Paul A. Sidoti, MD, Professor, Ophthalmology, Chair, Ophthalmology, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, Chief, Glaucoma Services, Mount Sinai Health System