Intraocular cyclophotocoagulation. Histopathologic evaluation in primates
M. B. Shields, D. B. Chandler, D. Hickingbotham and G. K. Klintworth
Intraocular cyclophotocoagulation with endoscopic visualization, following
lensectomy and anterior vitrectomy, was performed on 14 eyes of eight
rhesus monkeys. Two eyes received lensectomy and vitrectomy without laser
treatment. One eye of each animal was studied one to eight months
postoperatively, while the contralateral eyes were enucleated for study
immediately after surgery. Histopathologic changes in the treated ciliary
processes immediately after therapy included variable degrees of disruption
in the epithelial layers and bleeding, while the late changes ranged from
partial disruption of the epithelium and intrastromal pigment clumping to
replacement of the processes by a fibrotic mass. The degree of these
structural changes correlated reasonably well with the level of laser
energy used and especially with the immediate, visible tissue alteration.
These data may be useful in the development of clinical protocol for
intraocular cyclophotocoagulation.
