[Secondary glaucomas caused by intraocular epithelial invasion. A clinico-pathologic study of 30 patients]

The clinical data of 30 eyes with intraocular epithelial invasion were correlated to the histopathological findings (15 iridocyclectomies, four diagnostic iridectomies, one corneal button, ten globes). The diffuse (46.7%) and cystic (53.3%) types occurred with equal frequency. The correlation to the clinical data makes the relationship between the type of epithelial invasion and the pathogenetic mechanism clear: the cystic type occurs more frequently after perforating injuries (nine out of 13 patients), the diffuse type after intraocular surgery (nine out of 14 patients). Sixteen patients with intraocular epithelial ingrowth had secondary glaucoma preoperatively. In this group diffuse epithelial invasion predominates: of 14 patients with the diffuse type 12 had high intraocular pressure, while this was only the case in four out of 16 patients with cystic epithelial invasion. The multifactorial genesis of secondary glaucoma in eyes with epithelial ingrowth in discussed.