On the possibility of neoplastic growth of the descemet's corneal endothelium

Abstract

Background. The tumor process inside the eye covers most of the inner perimeter: from the iris to the optic nerve head. At the same time, there is a little information about neoplastic changes of Descemet's endothelium although the cells of this tissue prone to proliferation and pathological tissue growths. Aim. To present a histomorphological picture of unusual proliferation of the Descemet's endothelium, which had some signs of a neoplasm. Materials and Methods. The histomorphological picture of a unique pathological process was studied in 40 serial sections of the eyeball. The histological picture was compared with the clinical one. Results. Histomorphological examination revealed obliteration of the iridocorneal angle with fibrosis-hyalinosis of the drainage zone and neoplastic changes inside the eye: a cavernous hemangioma, neoplastic complexes of flattened round-oval non-pigmented cells in the zonule of Zinn, in the anterior chamber, on the anterior surface of the iris and identical cell complexes along the surface of Descemet's membrane. Conclusions. For the first time, emphasis was placed on the possibility of a neoplastic process in the endothelium of Descemet's membrane, the implementation of which is extremely difficult due to the absence of a stromal-vascular pool in this tissue system.