Pathological Study of Untreated Intraretinal Gliosis Surgically Excised via Pars Plana Vitrectomy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the pathological process of intraretinal glioses by investigating mass tissues resected from untreated eyes with intraretinal glioses.

METHODS: Five patients with intraretinal gliosis without previous conservative treatment were included. All patients underwent pars plana vitrectomy. The mass tissues were excised and processed for pathological study.

RESULTS: During surgery, we observed that the intraretinal gliosis mainly affected the neuroretina and the retinal pigment epithelium was not affected. Pathological examination revealed that all intraretinal glioses consisted of different proportions of hyaline vessels and hyperplastic spindle-shaped glial cells. In one case, the intraretinal gliosis was mainly composed of hyaline vascular components. In another case, the intraretinal gliosis showed a predominance of glial cells. The intraretinal glioses in the other three cases had both vascular and glial components. The proliferated vessels showed different amounts of collagen deposits against different backgrounds. Vascularized epiretinal membrane was found in some intraretinal glioses.

CONCLUSIONS: Intraretinal glioses affected the inner retinal layer. Hyaline vessels were the most characteristic pathological changes; the proportion of proliferative glial cells varied in different intraretinal glioses. The natural course of intraretinal gliosis may involve the proliferation of abnormal vessels in the early stage, which then gradually become scarred and are replaced by glial cells.