Rubeosis of the iris and haemorrhagic glaucoma in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Although abnormal iris vessels and secondary glaucoma in a patient with proliferative diabetic retinopathy was described over 8o years ago by Nettleship (i888), Salus (1928) was the first to call attention to rubeosis of the iris as a specific manifestation of long-term diabetes and to point out that the neovascularization of the iris resulted in haemorrhagic glaucoma. Neovascularization of the iris and the chamber angle is far less frequent than retinal changes in diabetics. In nonselected groups of diabetics, rubeosis of the iris occurs in only a small percentage (Ohrt, I958; Armaly and Baloglou, I967). Most frequently, the iridic neovascularization appears in eyes with proliferative retinopathy (Janert, Mohnike, and Georgi, 1957; Kruger, 196I; Ohrt, I967; Madsen, I97 ia). The purpose of this paper is to describe the occurrence of rubeosis of the iris and the development of this affection in diabetics with proliferative retinopathy.