Blood-retinal barrier in eyes with long-standing aphakia with apparently normal fundi
K. Miyake
Vitreous fluorophotometry was used to evaluate the integrity of the
blood-retinal barrier in 130 eyes with long-standing aphakia and apparently
normal fundi. All patients had undergone intracapsular lens extraction
because of senile cataract and had been followed up for approximately one
year (group 1) or three years (group 2). Thirty normal eyes served as
controls. Thirty minutes or one hour after intravenous administration of
fluorescein sodium, 50 of 130 aphakic eyes (32 of 70 group 1 eyes; 18 of 60
group 2 eyes) and three of 30 control eyes were judged abnormal in
breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier. In aphakic eyes, the older the age
at operation, the higher the incidence of barrier breakdown. These results
indicate that the blood-retinal barrier remains disrupted for a longer
postoperative period than was previously thought, and that the incidence of
barrier breakdown relates to the age at operation. Although these findings
reflect subclinical phenomena, they are biologically important.
