[Intraocular fibrosis after perforating injury of the posterior segment. Experimental study]

Double perforating injuries and linear wounds were produced in the posterior segment of the rabbit eye in order to study post-traumatic intraocular proliferation. After observation for one month, the animals were sacrificed and the eyes treated for histologic examination. Transvitreous strands and preretinal membranes slowly developed, sometimes inducing traction retinal detachment. Histologic studies demonstrated the new-formed tissue to be fibrovascular, mainly containing collagenous fibers and fibroblast-like cells. This fibroblastic proliferation closed the wound through the ocular membranes and invaded the vitreous using vitreous fibers as a scaffold. The authors discuss the signification of this results comparing them to literature data on different animals and on man.