CA of the Eye 2 Flashcards
(33 cards)
The globe structure
- 3 layers
a) Fibrous outer layer - supports eyeball shape - scelera and cornea - Uvea vascular layer - provides nutrition to structures of the eye and acts to alter light transmission - iris, ciliary body and choroid
- Neural inner layer = retina
- at front only firbous layer, if all 3 light wouldn’t get in
How is they eye divided internally?
into anterior and posterior segments by the position of the lens, with the anterior segment being further divided into anterior and posterior chambers by the iris.
AC - between iris and cornea
PC - between iris and back of lense
What is the Cornea
- is the clear curved rostral surface of the eyeball which transmits and refracts light (should be transparent
- Elliptical in shape, exaggerated in ungulates to maximise horizontal field of vision
- D+C 0.7mm thick which isn’t consistent along whole cornea
- Stroma is the main body, consists of carefully arranged collagen fibrils
- A vascular
What is the corneal sclera limbus?
The junction between the cornea and sclera
1. can be pigmented
Sclera vasculature
- blood vessels which terminate at the limbus
Cornea layers
- Outer anterior epithelium. Base called bowman’s capsule and pain receptors located here
- Stroma = main body
- Descemet’s membrane, produced by endothelium. Becomes thicker as ages
- Endothelium
Endothelium of cornea importance
vital role in maintaining corneal clarity by actively pumping water out of the stroma. Damage to the endothelium causes corneal oedema (water can’t be pumped out) which disrupts the stromal lamellae and prevents light transmission and can lead to blisters (bullae) and ulcers forming under the anterior epithelium.
Cornea innervation
CN 5
heavily innervated with sensory fibres, with pain receptors being most prevalent in the anterior epithelium and pressure receptors in the stroma. Damage is painful, esp anterior more than deeper. CNV
neovascularisation
Blood vessels grow in from the limbus to promote healing cornea injury.
Can be superficial or deep.
Once cornea / deeper structure fixed V remains but no blood
Sclera
- starts at limbus, round whole eye
- white part
- forms the posterior fibrous tunic of the eye, enclosing the posterior globe until it meets the cornea at the corneoscleral limbus
- There is a perforated zone posteriorly where the axons of optic nerve exits the eyeball – the lamina cribrosa
- varies in thickness between ages and species and at different points of the globe.
young = Thin- appears blue as the pigmented choroid is visible through the white tissue of the sclera.
old animals- ivory colouration
- jaundice (hyperbilirubinaemia) the sclera can take on a yellow colour.
If animal presents with red eye how to know if BV deep or superficial?
- Use adrenoreceptor agonist to differentiate
- superficial BV will constrict quickly
- Common conjunctiva e.g. allergic reactions
- deeper episclera BV are straighter (episcleritis)
The UVea
- Vascular, middle layer of the globe
- Posterior uvea = choroid
- Anterior uvea = iris and ciliary body
- Highly vascularised and pigmented (apart from albino)
The iris
- PArt of anterior uvea
Pigmented - most rostral portion uvea
- the centre of this ring is the pupil
- is a sphincter, capable of constricting or dilating to vary the amount of light entering the posterior segment of the eye and altering the depth of focus
- It varies in shape between species, with dogs and pigs having circular pupils, cats having pupils which are vertical when constricted and ungulates having horizontal oval-shaped pupils.
- has a anterior border layer, middle stroma (muscles) and posterior epithelium, pigmented
Constrictor muscle of iris
- under parasympathetic innervation, CN 3
- Located in the stroma of the pupillary zone
- autonomic in most species BUT non mammalian they’re striated = can change shape of pupil under conscious control. Makes drugs chosed for dilation different mammalaian vs non
- Shape of pupil is dependedn on constrictor muscle - cat slit, dog round
Dilator msucle of iris
- under sympathetic innervation
- autonomic in most species BUT non mammalian they’re striated = can change shape of pupil under conscious control. Makes drugs chosed for dilation different mammalaian vs non
Iris attached to…
Ciliary body which produces aqueous humour - liquid filling anterior segment of eye
Also suspends lense with zonular fibres
Fibres attached to folds of ciliary body called ciliary processes
Non mamaliam species zonular fibres
Don’t have
ciliary processes attach directly to lense
Ciliary body
- consists of the ciliary processes, the ciliary body muscles and forms part of the iridocorneal angle.
- produces aqueous humour and involved in its drainage
- Aq humour goes into posterior chamber of anterior segment, flows through pupil and drained at root of ciliary body between iris and cornea
- Pigmented and non pig epithelian layer - forms barrier between aqueous humour and blood supply
Iridocorneal angle
- v important
- Angle between cornea nad iris
- pectinate ligaments, underneath meshwork that drains aq humour
- any disease of lesion that affects ICA affects drainage
- inc intraoccular pressure
- can lead to glaucoma
Choroid
- posterior uvea, layer between sclera and retina
- highly vascularied, pigmented,
- made up of 4 layers
Layers of the choroid
- The suprachoroidea forms the transition between sclera and choroid and is elastic and heavily pigmented
- The large vessel layer contains a vascular plexus mainly consisting of veins which coalesce to form the vortex veins and which communicate with other venous plexi. This layer serves to cool the eye, protecting it from the heat produced from light absorption.
- The medium vessel layer contains vessels and the tapetum lucidum, which is fibrous in herbivores and cellular in carnivores. The tapetum reflects light that has passed through the retina, increasing the night-vision capabilities of the animal although at the expense of visual acuity. The vessels in this layer link with the choriocapillaris and these linking vessels can be visible on ophthalmoscopic examination as the “stars of Winslow”.
- The choriocapillaris forms the innermost layer of vessels and consists of fenestrated capillaries which supply the retina. Inside the choriocapillaris is a basement membrane and some connective tissue that separates the choroid from the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).
The Aqueous humour
- Anterior segement of the eye
- It is an ultrafiltrate of plasma produced by the ciliary processes of the ciliary body and drains at iridoconeal angle
- Provides nutritional needs of the lens and cornea
- Constant production and drainage of aq humour is necessary to maintain stable INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE (IOP). If production exceeeds = glaucoma
What makes up the tear film? State what , role and where produced
- Lipid portion part – meibomium gland- reduces evaportation and creates barrier at lid margin
- Mucous/ Mucin layer – from conjunctival goblet cells, mixed with and stabilises aqueous layer
- Aqueous layer portion (not humour) from lacrimal gland and 3rd eyelid – lubrication, protection ad nutrition of corneal, limbal and conjunctival epithelium
Aqueous Humour, location and produced by
Role- provide nutritional support to lens and cornea
Location: anterior segment
Produced by: ciliary processes of the ciliary body which is highly folded to inc SA.
Produced by 3 processes: diffusion (osmotic pressure gradients), ultrafiltration (hydrostatic pressure differences) and active secretion (main.