Late wound separation after cataract extraction.

Many years after cataract extraction, blunt trauma ruptured limbal wounds in five eyes. Filtrations followed minor trauma in three patients, and occurred spontaneously in two others. Limbal wounds do not regain the tensile strength of adjacent normal stroma and may be further weakened by tissue incarcerations, vascularization, and other defects. Histologic studies after cataract extraction also reveal minimal collagen bridging of the stromal wound in some human eyes. Diagnosis and clinical significance are discussed.