Corpora amylacea in glaucomatous and non-glaucomatous optic nerve and retina.

We studied the occurrence, location, and size of corpora amylacea (CA) in periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-stained histological sections of the retina and optic nerve. The glaucoma group included 48 blind eyes obtained from 48 patients (mean age: 64 +/- 13.9 years; range 26-83 years) with advanced secondary angle-closure glaucoma. The non-glaucomatous group consisted of 45 non-glaucomatous eyes from 45 patients (mean age: 62.1 +/- 12.2 years, range 34-78 years) suffering from malignant melanoma of the choroid, and six autopsy eyes obtained from young individuals (age range 2.5-29 years). The mean diameter of CA at the level of the retinal ganglion cells (retrolaminar: 10.92 +/- 5.15 microns, intralaminar: 10.97 +/- 5.04 microns, prelaminar: 9.17 +/- 4.53 microns, nerve fiber layer: 8.56 +/- 4.27 microns) was significantly larger (P < 0.0001; Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test) than their size at the level of the bipolar cells (inner plexiform layer: 3.79 +/- 1.30 microns). The count of CA in sections from non-glaucomatous subjects aged 2.5 to 78 years (45 eyes with malignant melanoma and 6 autopsy eyes) increased significantly (P < 0.01) with advancing age. CA occurred significantly more often (P < 0.0001) in eyes with melanoma (45.7 +/- 29.4 per section) than in eyes with glaucoma (4.7 +/- 6.9 per section). These results suggest that CA represent intraneuronal aging products that are diminished in eyes with end-stage glaucoma due to neuronal loss.