On the Morphology of Cells of Posterior Cornea in the Iridocorneal Endothelial Syndrome

Abstract

The iridocorneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome is potentially a blinding condition as a result of glaucoma and/or corneal decompensation. The basic pathology seems to be in the corneal endothelium, which many studies confirm takes on a characteristic slit lamp appearance of hammered silver and image reversal with the specular microscope. The origin and morphology of the abnormal cells are unknown. Many histopathological studies of keratoplasty and trabeculectomy specimens reveal as many cell types. This paper reports some general and specular microscopical data from 57 cases of the syndrome, argues that the reason for the variety of histopathological findings in other studies is due to poor sampling of the study material, deduces the morphology of the abnormal cells on specular microscopical criteria, and compares the specular and scanning electron microscopical images in one case with those of other reports. It is tentatively concluded that the appearance of the abnormal cells is a function of their three-dimensional shape and that they produce blister-like vesicles that rupture, collapse, and eventually invaginate.