The hyaloid vascular system of the pig. A light and scanning electron microscopic study.

The hyaloid vascular system of the pig was studied from 4 weeks of gestation until 2 weeks after birth by means of semithin sections and vascular corrosion casts. The vascular tunic of the lens is supplied by the posterior lens branches of the hyaloid artery (at the posterior lens pole), by the intermediate lens branches of the proper hyaloid arteries (at the lens equator) and by the anterior lens branches of the radial iridial arteries (at the anterior lens pole). Venous drainage takes place via the venous lens branches which leave the lens anteriorly and drain into the radial iridial veins. Regression of the vascular tunic of the lens occurs during the second half of fetal life and is nearly completed in the first postnatal days. The involution first affects the proper hyaloid arteries and their intermediate lens branches. Subsequently, the posterior lens branches regress, whereas the anterior lens branches in the pupillary membrane disappear in the perinatal period only.