To report a case of spontaneous malignant glaucoma in an Asian female. To propose the term "positive vitreous pressure glaucoma" to reflect the pathophysiology, treatment and prognosis of the condition.
Ciliary-block glaucoma occurred in one eye of a 65-year-old-male, following a combined trabeculectomy and extracapsular lens extraction for long-standing angle-closure glaucoma. After pupillary block was excluded as a cause, a posterior capsulotomy resolved the condition. This procedure was repeated successfully when a flat anterior chamber recurred on spontaneous closure of the initial capsulotomy. The ciliary block appeared to be caused by the residual zonule and lens capsule.