Abstract:
Background.
To investigate the morphological features of the lamina cribrosa (LC) of sclera in terms of their potential role in
the development of optic neuropathy.
Material and methods
Longitudinal sections of the prelaminar, laminar and postlaminar parts of the optic nerve (ON) of corneal donors
were examined. The sections were stained with Masson’s trichrome and examined using the Bioscan AT+ program.
The data were statistically processed using the Pearson, Spearman correlation coefficients, Kruskal-Wallis,
Mann-Whitney and Kandala-Tau criteria.
Results
It was found that the structure of the LC of sclera correlated with age (χ2=21.09, p=0.0018) and differed in the
degree of expression of the connective tissue and glial components, based on which 3 patterns of LC (mixed, elastic
and collagenous) were identified.
The mixed LC variant was found in most cases in all age groups; the elastic type was mainly observed at a young
age of up to 44 years; the collagenous type prevailed at the age over 60 years.
Conclusions
Remodeling of the LC of sclera through the predominance of collagen tissue in its composition, mainly
perivascularly, with deformation of the anterior surface of the LC at the age of over 60 years, along with a tendency
to increase the deviation of the axons of the ON passing through the LC, as well as the “depletion” of the prelaminar
zone with a decrease in the number of fibroblasts, should be considered as risk factors for damage to the ON axons.
