Posterior attachment of ciliary muscle in young, accommodating old, presbyopic monkeys

The authors studied the posterior attachment of the ciliary muscle in seven young (3-10 yr) and five old (26-34 yr) rhesus monkeys by light microscopy and electron microscopy. Posterior attachment of the muscle bundles consisted of elastic tendons, exclusively. The elastic tendons were continuous with the elastic lamina of Bruch's membrane and were also connected by smaller elastic fibers to an elastic meshwork that surrounds the pars plana vessels. In some areas, the tendons formed focal contacts with the endothelial cells. The authors found that in old eyes, the tendons and the elastic fibers of the posterior ciliary body showed pronounced structural changes. The tendons appeared thickened, showed increased amounts of associated microfibrils, and were surrounded by dense layers of thick collagen fibrils. An increased amount of collagen fibrils was also seen between the elastic layer of Bruch's membrane and the pigmented epithelium. A mechanical link between those collagen fibrils and the elastic fibers is suggested by the presence of osmiophilic points of contact. The age-related increase in elastic fibrillar material could cause decreased compliance of the posterior insertion of ciliary muscle and could be an essential factor for presbyopia in rhesus monkeys.