Summary
The optic nerve and optic disk in 20 cases of glaucoma were examined neurohistologically. The interruption of retinal axons was found localized in a narrow transversal strip at the level of the posterior part of the lamina cribrosa and immediately behind it. Retinal axons anterior to this zone were mostly intact as long as their ganglion cells of origin were preserved. This picture was essentially identical in cases of primary and secondary glaucoma. The significance of this finding is discussed together with some hypotheses on the origin and causes of the glaucomatous cupping of the optic disk.
Zusammenfassung
Bericht über neuro-histologische Untersuchung des Sehnerven und der Papille bei 20 Glaukomaugen. Die Unterbrechung der Nervenfasern findet in einem umschriebenen Nervenareal in Höhe des hinteren Abschnitts der Lamina cribrosa und unmittelbar dahinter statt. Die peripher von dieser Zone gelegenen Abschnitte waren meist intakt, solange die entsprechenden Ganglienzellen erhalten waren. Zwischen primären und sekundären Glaukomen ergab sich praktisch kein Unterschied. Besprechung dieser Beobachtungen im Zusammenhang mit einigen Hypothesen über Ursachen der glaukomatösen Papillenexcavation.
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Vrabec, F. Glaucomatous cupping of the human optic disk. Albrecht von Graefes Arch. Klin. Ophthalmol. 198, 223–234 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00410715
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00410715