[Etiology and morphology of retrocorneal membranes following microsurgical operations of the anterior eye segment].

This report deals with light and electron microscopic findings in 47 corneal disks obtained in the course of keratoplasties performed for bullous keratopathy. Previous surgery had included intracapsular cataract extraction in 12 cases, intracapsular cataract extraction with implantation of iris-supported artificial lenses in 8, and keratoplasty for treatment of various conditions in 27 cases. The interval between the first operation and the keratoplasty was seven years on average in the first group and three years in the two other groups. In 34 out of 47 cases a retrocorneal membrane was found to be responsible for the keratopathy. Stromal fibroblasts as well as endothelial cells of the cornea may participate in the formation of the membrane. It is suspected that postoperative bullous keratopathy is always caused by a retrocorneal membrane, which is, however, sometimes only demonstrable by electron microscopy.