[Biomechanical properties of the cribriform lamina in glaucoma-induced atrophy of the optic nerve and after decompression operations on the scleral canal].

The authors made a mathematical and clinical analysis of the cribriform lamina (CL) of the optic nerve and nerve fiber bundles passing through its foramens in glaucoma-induced optic neuropathy. It was shown that in elevated intraocular pressure, there was a significant CL deformity leading to the compression and deformity of nerve fibers. The important biomechanical characteristic of CL deformity is the tangent of the angle between the longitudinal axis of the scleral canal and the perpendicular to the CL surface. An increase in the inner radius of the scleral canal of the optic nerve due to its dissection at decompression surgery is one of the ways of diminishing CL flexure and nerve fiber deformity. A small increase in the scleral canal radius (by approximately 10%) was demonstrated to eliminate significant CL flexure.