Histological Characteristics of the Interface of Corneal Stroma and Descemet's Membrane.

Jang, Jin Ho; Park, Hyung Ju; Ko, Myung Kyoo

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2003;44(7):1607-1612.
Published online July 1, 2003.

Histological Characteristics of the Interface of Corneal Stroma and Descemet's Membrane.

Jin Ho Jang, Hyung Ju Park, Myung Kyoo Ko

Department of Ophthalmology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. fovea@hanyang.ac.kr

각막 간질과 데스메막 경계부위의 조직학적 특성

장진호 ( Jin Ho Jang ) , 박형주 ( Hyung Ju Park ) , 고명규 ( Myung Kyoo Ko )

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was carried out to clarify the histological characteristics of the interface of the corneal stroma and Descemet's membrane of the human eye. METHODS: Nighteen donor eyes without corneal pathology were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The Descemet's membrane including the corneal endothelium was cheked for scanning electron microscopy. The junctional characteristics of the posterior corneal stroma and Descemet's membrane was examined by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS: The scanning electron microscopy showed that collagen sheet faced each other at the right angle near the Descemet's membrane and penetrated the Descemet's membrane with the irregular arrangement. The transmission electron microscopy showed that the electron-dense collagen filaments extended to the posterior stroma from Descemet's membrane. The arrangement of electron-dense collagen filaments paralleled with the arrangement of the collagen fibrils of the posterior stroma. CONCLUSIONS: The interface of the corneal stroma and Descemet's membrane was composed of two-typed extracellular materials without the intercellular specificatons.

Key Words: Collagen filaments;Descemet's membrane;Electron microscopy;Stroma