The lens capsule and rubeosis iridis: an angiographic study

In 15 pigmented rabbits a pars plana lensectomy, vitrectomy and giant retinal tear with bullous retinal detachment were produced with maintenance of an intact anterior lens capsule. The incidence of subsequent rubeosis iridis, as detected angiographically, was compared with that in a control group of animals in whom the anterior lens capsule was not preserved but whose management was identical in all other respects. The rubeosis in the rabbits was angiographically identical to that seen in humans following vitrectomy, with immediate formation of a mossy hyperfluorescent surface membrane that leaked fluorescein extensively into the anterior chamber in the late phase of the angiography. It was possible to distinguish true neovascularization from breakdown of the blood-ocular barrier by the time and extent of the fluorescein leakage. Preservation of an intact anterior lens capsule reduced the incidence of unequivocal (florid) rubeosis from 73% to 33% (p less than 0.05).