[Immunological reactions in pathogenesis of posttraumatic uveitis and eyeball subatrophy]

Clinical and morphological examinations of 30 eyes enucleated for relapses of traumatic uveitis and subatrophy caused by grave penetrating wounds involving a complete loss of visual function were carried out and 12 patients were tested for sensitization to tissue antigens by the leukocyte migration inhibition test. Morphological examination revealed cellular reaction in eye membranes, indicating an autoimmune process developing in response to release of the antigenic tissue substances of the eye into the bloodflow and reactive flow of immunocompetent cells towards ocular tissues because of injury to the blood-eye barrier. Detection of sensitization to tissue antigen in the patients confirms this viewpoint. The authors compare the revealed inflammatory process in the injured eye with the graft rejection reaction and find them similar.