[The macular fatty degeneration of the peripheral retina a variety of the snail track degeneration (author's transl)].

A previously undescribed form of snail-track degeneration with scattered flecks was found in three eyes with absolute glaucoma. Light- and electron-microscopic examination of these lesions in the retinal periphery revealed atrophy and gliosis with massive accumulation of fat within the astrocytes and Müller's cells. It was not possible to explain the patchy distribution of the lesions. The fatty change in the macroglia is believed to indicate 'in situ breakdown' of slowly atrophying retina. Morphologic and pathogenetic similarities suggest that all forms of snail-track degeneration with snowflakes represent nonspecific fatty degeneration of the retina.