Corpora amylacea in glaucomatous and non-glaucomatous optic nerve and retina

Abstract

We studied the occurrence, location, and size of corpora amylacea (CA) in periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-stained histological sections of the retina and optic nerve. The glaucoma group included 48 blind eyes obtained from 48 patients (mean age: 64±13.9 years; range 26–83 years) with advanced secondary angle-closure glaucoma. The non-glaucomatous group consisted of 45 non-glaucomatous eyes from 45 patients (mean age: 62.1±12.2 years, range 34–78 years) suffering from malignant melanoma of the choroid, and six autopsy eyes obtained from young individuals (age range 2.5–29 years). The mean diameter of CA at the level of the retinal ganglion cells (retrolaminar: 10.92±5.15 µm, intralaminar: 10.97±5.04 µm, prelaminar: 9.17±4.53 µm, nerve fiber layer: 8.56±4.27 µm) was significantly larger (P<0.0001; Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test) than their size at the level of the bipolar cells (inner plexiform layer: 3.79±1.30 µm). The count of CA in sections from non-glaucomatous subjects aged 2.5 to 78 years (45 eyes with malignant melanoma and 6 autopsy eyes) increased significantly (P<0.01) with advancing age. CA occurred significantly more often (P<0.0001) in eyes with melanoma (45.7±29.4 per section) than in eyes with glaucoma (4.7±6.9 per section). These results suggest that CA represent intraneuronal aging products that are diminished in eyes with end-stage glaucoma due to neuronal loss.