Vitreoretinal juncture; healing of experimental wounds.

Healing of mechanically-induced, minimal wounds of vitreoretinal juncture in non-vascularized retina of rabbits was studied with electron microscopy at 1 and 3 days, and 1, 2, 6 and 10 weeks. Neuroectodermal scar was formed by two processes, each having a specific anatomical relationship to wound. Accessory gliocytosis, in which accessory glia adjacent to wound become phagocytic and proliferate; following this their progeny migrate to wound and progressively differentiate into fibrous astrocytes to fill in the wound proper. Plexiform gliosis, in which the Müller cell side branches proliferate to form a layer about the perimeter of wound. The retinal inner limiting lamina did not regenerate. The significance of these findings in relation to epiretinal membrane formation in man is discussed.