Electron Microscopic Study of Pseudo-exfoliation of the Lens Capsule. Ii. Iris and Ciliary Body.

I In continuation of an electron microscopic study of pseudo-exfoliation of the lens capsule, this paper reports the changes found in the iris and ciliary body. The possible significance of all findings in the investigation are then discussed. The deposition of exfoliative material occurs predominantly in the posterior chamber and was found in the internal limiting membranes of the iris and ciliary body and upon their epithelial surfaces. The epithelial cells, provided they were intact, showed no abnormality. The stroma of the ciliary body appeared normal, but abundant exfoliative material was seen around, the iris vessels, whereas the vessels themselves, both in the iris and ciliary body, showed no abnormality either within the lumina or xoithin the walls. Electron microscopy has, therefore, revealed a widespread degenerative condition, but none of the possible sources of the exfoliative material, namely, the ciliary body, iris, zonule, zonular lamella, lens capsule, and lens epithelium can with certainty be incriminated or excluded. All the appearances can best be explained by postulating the deposition from the aqueous of an abnormal substance which has either been elaborated locally or has escaped through the blood-aqueous barrier.