Schlemm's canal: the effect of intraocular pressure.

We have shown that in the excised eye when oil in the anterior chamber has made the trabecular mesh impermeable, resistance to circumferential flow along the canal increases moderately as transmural pressure is increased. At the same time, resistance to outflow from the canal through the collector channels increases markedly as transmural pressure is increased from low levels to 35 or 40 mm Hg. We have suggested that the usual primary defect in open-angle glaucoma is reduced facility of the inner canal wall and that collapse of the canal with reduction of filtering area and plugging of collector channels is a secondary effect.