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Robert Ritch, MD; Alexander Reyes, MD
New York

Arch Ophthalmol. 1988;106(11):1503.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—Although the Goldmann applanation tonometer is a highly accurate instrument, artifacts in measurement of intraocular pressure may occasionally mislead the examiner. Spurious elevations of intraocular pressure may occur on the basis of such patient-related factors as excessive widening of lid fissures,¹ blepharospasm, blinking, and tilting of the patient's head.² Inadvertent pressure exerted on the globe by the examiner while elevating a patient's lid may also cause errors.

Occasionally, external factors interfering with the tonometer itself may affect the measurement. Pressure against the arm of a superiorly mounted Goldmann applanation tonometer by an "Afro" hairdo has been reported previously in the ARCHIVES.³ We report an analogous situation in which a patient's moustache interfered with the forward movement of the arm of a base-mounted Goldmann applanation tonometer. The patient was a 41-year-old man referred for consultation regarding his pigmentary glaucoma. The initial intraocular pressure reading . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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