Erythrocyte phagocytosis in the human trabecular meshwork.

The mechanisms of erythrocyte disposal by the trabecular meshwork in the human eye have not been extensively studied by electron microscopy. At the present time there is one short report on the ultrastructural changes induced by post-traumatic recurrent hyphaemas in two elderly patients. In both patients, Yamashita and Rosen ( I965) observed infiltration of the endothelial meshwork by phagocytic endothelial cells and debris and they suggested that the transient glaucoma, which was observed clinically, was due to a mechanical obstruction. In order to add more information with regard to the pathogenesis of haemolytic glaucoma (Fenton and Zimmerman, i963), the following report describes the changes induced in the trabecular meshwork of a 20-year-old man 2 weeks after recurrent bleeding into the anterior chamber.