Trabeculo-electropuncture in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca irus).

Trabeculo-electropuncture (TEP) was performed in one eye of ten cynomolgus monkeys. In five control eyes, the TEP probe was inserted into Schlemm's canal and withdrawn without causing a spark discharge. In another five control eyes,a scleral window was produced and the canal was opened, but no probe was inserted. The gross facility of outflow was determined prior to the operation and 2, 6, and 18 weeks postoperatively. TEP had no longlasting effect on the facility. Gonioscopy five months after the operation revealed marked changes in the anatomy of Schlemm's canal in treated eyes and in control eyes subjected to probe insertion. Control eyes without probe insertion appeared normal. Six months postoperatively three monkeys were killed and the eyes investigated. Light and electron microscopy indicated that insertion of the probe with or without spark discharge resulted in the formation of dense bridges between the inner and outer walls of Schlemm's canal. At the sites of TEP, the trabecular meshwork was replaced by dense scar tissue containing irregular, fine fibrillar material, elastic fibres and large amounts of curly collagen. There were no intertrabecular spaces in the scar tissue. In one eye, one lesion was covered by a thin endothelium resting on a basal membrane. The results indicate that the failure of TEP in monkey eyes was due to the formation of dense scar tissue occluding the openings initially produced by the spark discharge.