Aqueous humor dynamics in Fuchs' uveitis syndrome.

We studied aqueous humor dynamics in ten subjects (four men and six women, ranging in age from 19 to 72 years) with unilateral Fuchs' uveitis syndrome. The unaffected fellow eyes served as controls. In two patients, the affected eye also had glaucoma. Fluorophotometry showed the blood-aqueous barrier to be abnormally permeable in the affected eyes. The calculated coefficient of exchange of fluorescein across the blood-aqueous barrier was 30.7 X 10(-4) min-1 in the affected eyes and 5.7 X 10(-4) min-1 in the unaffected eyes. The anterior chamber elimination coefficient of fluorescein, corneal endothelial permeability to fluorescein, and anterior chamber volume did not differ significantly in affected vs unaffected eyes. The rate of aqueous humor flow through the anterior chamber in the affected eyes appeared to be normal, as did the apparent resistance to the outflow of aqueous humor.