Pathologic human vitreous promotes contraction by fibroblasts. Implications for proliferative vitreoretinopathy
C. Hardwick, R. Morris, D. Witherspoon, M. White, R. Feist, R. McFarland and C. Guidry
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To establish and quantify the presence of
contraction-stimulating activity in pathologic vitreous and correlate this
activity with clinical presentation and outcome, especially with
proliferative vitreoretinopathy. METHODS: Contraction-stimulating activity
of vitreous collected during surgery was quantified with a tissue culture
assay using fibroblasts as target cells. The activity of each sample was
correlated with patient history, clinical presentation, risk factors,
proliferative disease, and postoperative proliferation. RESULTS: Pathologic
vitreous contained measurable quantities of contraction-stimulating
activity and stimulated contraction in vitro, with elevated activities in
samples from patients with proliferative vitreoretinopathy, epimacular
proliferation, retinal detachment, retinal defects, pigmented cells in the
vitreous, hemorrhage, or uveitis. Patients with postoperative proliferation
had significantly elevated mean activities. CONCLUSIONS: Levels of
contraction-stimulating activity in pathologic vitreous correlate with some
risk factors for the development of proliferative vitreoretinopathy and may
ultimately be useful in the assessment of disease severity and the
prediction of postoperative proliferation.
