Ultrastructure of connective tissue of eye drainage system in ophthalmic hypertension associated with primary juvenile glaucoma.

In primary juvenile glaucoma, the connective tissue of the juxtacanalicular zone and sclera undergo constant reorganization because of incessant synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix components with pronounced fluctuations of electron density of collagen fibrils. Destructive changes in the perivascular nerve trunks were detected at all stages of the glaucoma process, including the initial stages: numerous large foci of cytoplasmic organelle destruction with the formation of autophagosomes and residual bodies predominated in the cytoplasm of myelinated axons of nerve cells.