[5][6] It is caused due to abnormalities in the anterior chamber angle development that obstruct aqueous outflow in the absence of systemic anomalies or other ocular malformation.

[7] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the disease was commonly referred to by terms such as trabeculodysgenesis and goniodysgenesis, emphasizing the developmental anomalies in the eye's drainage structures.

It was considered untreatable at the time, with most cases resulting in inevitable vision loss and blindness due to elevated intraocular pressure.

Later, Dr. Janey Wiggs, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, conducted studies identifying new genetic mutations associated with congenital glaucoma, such as the thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) gene.

The intraocular pressure (IOP) can be measured in the office in a conscious swaddled infant using a Tonopen or hand-held Goldmann tonometer.

[citation needed] Its diagnosis process typically involves an eye examination, including measurement of intraocular pressure, corneal diameter, and optic nerve assessment.

Goniotomy is one surgical option, where surgeons cut into the eye's drainage angle to access the trabecular meshwork, using a gonioscope for visibility.

If the drainage angle isn't clearly visible through the cornea, a trabeculotomy is performed, cutting into the sclera with an electrocautery device called a trabeculotome.

If these approaches are ineffective, a trabeculectomy may be considered, removing part of the trabecular meshwork through the sclera to create a new drainage pathway.