[Inner nuclear layer of the retina in eyes with secondary angle-block glaucoma]

Glaucomatous changes have been known to occur in the inner retinal layer all over the fundus and in the deep retinal layer and retinal pigment epithelium close at the optic disc border. This study was conducted to address the question as to whether the middle retinal layers are altered by the glaucomatous process. The study included histological slides of 23 eyes enucleated due to painful secondary traumatic angle-closure glaucoma and 14 nonglaucomatous eyes removed because of a malignant choroidal melanoma. We evaluated the cell count and thickness of the inner nuclear layer via histomorphometry. The inner nuclear layer contained significantly fewer cells and was thinner (P < 0.05) in the glaucoma group compared to the control group. Since this study contains eyes with possible secondary changes due to the initial trauma, further investigations on eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma are necessary to confirm the results. This could be important for psychophysical testing in glaucoma.