Hyphema refers to:

• A. Blood in the anterior chamber of the eye
• B. Bleeding behind the eye
• C. Fluid in the anterior chamber
• D. Clouding of the cornea

Answer: (A)

Hyphema is blood in the anterior chamber of the eye—the space between the cornea and the iris. This occurs when vessels in the front part of the eye bleed, often after trauma, causing visible blood to pool in the front of the eye and potentially affecting vision or increasing intraocular pressure. That makes it the best description: it specifies blood present in the front chamber of the eye.

Bleeding behind the eye would be a retrobulbar hemorrhage, involving posterior structures rather than the anterior chamber. Fluid in the anterior chamber refers to aqueous humor, the clear fluid normally in that space, not blood. Clouding of the cornea describes corneal edema or opacity, not bleeding into the anterior chamber.