Massive peripheral retinal sclerosis. Correlation between light and scanning electron microscopic findings.

Peripheral retinal sclerosis (PRS) is especially massive in cases of high myopia and retinitis pigmentosa. The distribution and configuration of the sclerotic formations in nine such cases were studied and compared by light microscopy and SEM. Different aspects of the sclerotic structures are described. It is shown that no formations of PRS lie isolated within the degenerated retinal tissue as could be supposed by light microscopy. They are always in multiple contact to or originate from the vitreo-retinal border layer and/or peripheral retinal vessels. This leads to the supposition that these preexisting collagenous structures participate in some way in the formation of PRS.