[Studies on the lymph drainage of the eye. 2. Drainage of lymph-dependent radioactive substances from the anterior chamber. (author's transl)].

In order to study lymph drainage from the eye colloid solutions (198Au-colloid and 99mTc-sulfur-colloid) were injected into the right anterior chamber of the eye in 12 rabbits. The distribution of the radioactivity was measured in vivo with an Anger-type camera and in vitro with a sodium iodine crystal well-counter after dissection. The drainage of radioactivity from the anterior chamber had an average half-life of 36 min. The drained activity could be found mainly in blood, liver, kidney, and bone tissue. Moreover, a concentration of radioactivity significantly surpassing the concentration in blood was measured in the right retrobulbar space in 75% of the cases and in the cervical lymph nodes in 50% of the cases. These findings substantiate a communication between the anterior chamber of the eye and the retrobulbar space in the form of a lymphatic or a prelymphatic-lymphatic flow.