[The vitreous in aphakia]

The authors have studied the vitreous in 150 aphakic eyes after uneventful operations. They were examined by the slit-lamp and the Goldmann three-mirror glass. Two types of lesions were revealed: (1) 42% showed rupture of the anterior hyaloid membrane; this is not considered dangerous. (2) 69.3% showed posterior detachment of the vitreous, a more serious lesion. It is often associated with retinal lesions such as haemorrhage, pigmentary anomalies, and retinal tears. In view of such lesions, one cannot consider the aphakic patient as a normal subject and aphakia as a physiological condition. The frequency of retinal detachment in the aphakic bears witness to it.