Certified Ophthalmic Assistant Practice Exam 2026 - Free Ophthalmic Assistant Practice Questions and Study Guide

Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy, meaning the disease directly damages the nerve that carries visual information from the eye to the brain—the optic nerve as it exits the eye at the optic disc. Elevated intraocular pressure and other factors injure retinal ganglion cell axons in the nerve head, leading to cupping of the optic disc and progressive peripheral vision loss. Because of this, the primary structure affected is the optic nerve. The cornea is mainly involved in how we measure eye pressure, not the primary site of glaucomatous damage. The iris controls pupil size, and while the retina contains the photoreceptors, the earliest glaucomatous damage targets the optic nerve rather than the retina.