Altered permeability of iris vessels following posterior chamber lens implantation: An electron microscopic study

Altered permeability of the iris vessels of monkey eyes following extracapsular cataract extraction and posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation was studied by transmission electron microscopy using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a tracer. In control animals, HRP-reaction products were confined to the vascular lumens and to a small number of vesicles on the luminal side of the endothelial cells. In experimental animals, however, the interendothelial junctions of the iris vessels were filled with HRP-reaction products, and the endothelial cells of the iris vessels contained a large number of HRP-labeled plasmalemmal vesicles that opened into the basal lamina. HRP-reaction products were also found in the surrounding iris stroma of these experimental animals.