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Anatomy of Lens Crystalline Lens

• Transparent
• Biconvex
• Elastic – can focus on objects from near to infinity
• Avascular
• Semisolid
• Elliptical
• Located between iris and vitreous
• Attached to ciliary epithelium by zonules extending
from equatorial zone to posterior chamber

• Contains cells of ONLY A SINGLE TYPE

Dimensions
• All cells formed during its lifetime is retained
• Cells are in various stages of cytodifferentiation • Equatorial diameter:
• Oldest cells within core/nucleus of lens – 6.5 mm at birth
– 9-10 mm by 2nd decade and adulthood (changes little)
• New cells added superficially to cortex in
concentric rings • Axial sagittal width:
– 3.5-4 mm at birth weighs 90g
• As cells become older
– 4 mm at 40 years weighs 220g
– Get more embedded inside lens
– 5 mm at extreme age
– Lose organelles
– Lose to some extent their structural integrity • RI of lens is 1.39
– Become progressively more inert metabolically – more than 1.33 of aqueous/vitreous
– 1.4 centrally and 1.36 peripherally

Anterior Surface of Lens

• Less convex than posterior surface
• Radius 10 mm
• Anterior part of it related to anterior chamber
through pupil and posterior surface of iris-pupillary
part rests on it
• Lateral part related to posterior chamber and ciliary
processes via zonules
• Center of anterior surface is the anterior pole
• Anterior pole is 3 mm from behind cornea
• Central 6mm is free of zonular insertion – used for
capsulorrhexis

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Posterior Surface of Lens

• More curved than anterior
• Radius of 6 mm
• Lying in patellar fossa
• Lined by the ligamentum hyaloideacapsulare
of Weiger
• With slit-like retrolental aqueous filled space
of Berger in -between

Lens Equator
• Forms a circle lying 0.5 mm within ciliary
processes
• Serrated due to attachment of zonules
– These dentations tend to disappear during
accommodation when tension of zonules relaxed
• Diopteric power of lens:
– 15D out of normal 40D
– At birth accommodation 15-16D
– At age 25 years – 7-8D
– At age 50 years – 2D

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Lens in slit lamp

• Stratification of lens into concentric rings
– Capsule
– Subcapsular cortical zone C1α
– Narrow bright scattering zone C1β
– Subnuclear zone of cortex C2
– Bright scattering deep cortical zone C3
– Relatively clear deep cortical zone C4
– Nucleus
– Embryonic nucleus in center
• Lens shagreen – a beaten metal appearance visible
at interface between aqueous and ant. capsule

Lens Capsule
• Completely envelops lens
• Contain all lens cells
• Is basement membrane of lens epithelium – is the
thickest BM in body
• Thickest just anterior (21µm) and posterior
(23µm) to equator
• Thinnest in posterior pole 4 µm (Wolff 2.8 µm)
• Anterior capsule thickness increases with age, but
little change at posterior pole
– Due to secretion by lens epithelium in anterior surface

• Capsule receives insertion of zonular fibers at

periphery anteriorly, posteriorly and equator
• PAS+ve
• Under LM , capsule is transparent and
homogenous
• Under polarized light: Birefringent with an
indication of lamellar structure with fibers
arranged parallel to its surface
• Under EM: appears relatively amorphous with
indication of lamellar structure
• 10% of capsule is carbohydrate
• Capsule forms a barrier to bacteria and
inflammatory cells
• But allows diffusion of molecules smaller than
the size of haemoglobin
• Capsule normally under tension:
• When cut/ruptured – edges roll out and curl up
towards cornea

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• Zonular lamella/pericapsular membrane:

Microstructure of lens capsule
– Superficial layer of capsule
– Layer of inserting zonular fibers
• Lamellar structure – modified with age causes
gradual reduction of elasticity – Found in a narrow zone around lens equator
– 0.6-0.9 m thick
• Lamellae run parallel to capsule surface
– Less compact than other layers
• Type IV collagen
– Richer in GAG
• Also has type I and III collagens – Has fibronectin, vintronectin - may contribute to
• ECM: sulphated glycosaminogylcans zonular adhesion mechanism
– Laminin, fibronectin, heparin sulfate, entactin
• No elastic tissue, but highly elastic due to
lamellar structure of fibrillar arrangement

Lens Epithelium
• Only in anterior surface upto equator
• Single sheet of cuboidal epithelial cells
• Polygonal in surface view
• Cell density more in periphery and in women
more than men
• Density reduces with age
• About 500 000 cells in mature lens
• No posterior layer – become lens nucleus in
embryo

Central zone of lens epithelium

• Represents a stable population of cells
• Number slowly reduce with age
• Adjoin most superficial lens fibers
• Smooth apical surface
• Nuclei large, round and located slightly
apically
• Ribosomes, polysomes, SER, RER, Golgi,
mitochondria, lysosomes, glycogen present

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• Well developed cytoskeleton
– Actin, alpha-actinin
– Vimentin (intermediate filaments)
– Spectrin
– Myosin
• Alpha crystallin present in epithelium but not
beta or gamma
• Attached to basal lamina by hemidesmosomes
• Cells do not normally undergo mitosis
– Can do so in response to injuries
Germinative zone of Lens Epithelium
• Located pre-equatorially
• Most peripheral zone
• Major site of cell division (although mitoses rare in
adults)
• Flattened nuclei – lie in plane of cell axis
• New cells migrate:
– Mainly posteriorly to become lens fibers
– Some anteriorly to intermediate zone
• Is protected from harmful UV rays due to its
location behind iris
• After cataract surgery, residual epithelial cells may
cause posterior capsule opacification.
• E cells migrate posteriorly along the posterior
capsule and often forms large balloon like bladder
cells, known as Wedl cells.
• These are clinically termed as Elschnig pearls.
• Each pearl represents the failed attempt of a
epithelial cell to differentiate into a new lens fiber.
• E cells are also responsible for a dumb bell dough-
nut-shaped opacification, known as
Soemmering’s ring.
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Intermediate zone of lens epithelium
• Peripheral to central zone
• Cells more cylindrical
• Smaller cells
• Complex basal interdigitations with irregular
basal surface
• Occasional mitoses
• These cells show few organelles
• Coarse granular cytoplasm
• RER, ribosomes, small mitochondria, Golgi
• Cytoskeletal proteins
– Actin
– Vimentin (intermediate filaments)
– Microtubular protein
– Spectrin
– Alpha actinin
– Myosin
• Alpha crystallines present – not beta/gamma
• Remnant cells on the anterior capsule after cataract
surgery differentiate into spindle-shaped,
fibroblast-like cells, which are known as
myofibroblasts.
• They express smooth muscle actin filament,
expressed commonly in smooth muscle cells and
become highly contractile.
• These cells proliferate and migrate to the posterior
capsule and form a layer by secreting extracellular
ground substances and a basement membrane like
material.
• Cellular contraction by this highly contractile cells
leads to the formation of folds and wrinkles in the
posterior capsule.
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Fibre Elongation
• Following terminal cell division – one or both
daughter cells pass into adjacent transitional zone
• Cells organized into meridional rows
• Differentiate into secondary lens fibers
• Rotate 180 degrees
• Elongate anteroposteriorly
• Fibers retain polarity so that the posterior (basal)
part of fibre remains in contact with the posterior
capsule (basal lamina) while anterior (apical) part is
separated from it by the epithelium
• Epithelial mitosis is accompanied by DNA
synthesis
• Fibre elongation involves increased RNA
synthesis
– Nucleoli enlarge
– Cells become more basophilic due to increased
ribosomal content
– Synthesis of plasma membrane, cytoskeleton and
lens crystallins for cell elongation
• Fibres undergo a process of terminal
differentiation
– Nuclei become pyknotic and finally disappear
– Cell organelles lost
• Complex apical membrane
– Extensive interdigitations with underlying fibers
– Interface with youngest fibres destined for sutures
• Lens fibre maturation is accompanied by reduction
– Infrequent gap junctions present
– These allow ionic coupling, but not for transport
– Receptor mediated endocytotic vesicles present for
• Forms Nuclear Bow:
transport of metabolites from epithelium to fibres
– Receptors present on both sides
• Insulin
• Growth hormone
• Beta agonists
– Square array membrane: provide route for transfer of
nutrients and metabolites by micropinocytosis
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• These transitional cells
– Rich in ribosomes
– Has multivesicular bodies
– Pronounced microtubules
• With increasing differentiation, they become
columnar and then pyramidal with their bases
towards the capsule
• Parallel organization of meridional rows achieved
in part by staggered arrangement of central cells
– Permits new cells to dock into furrows between
alternating cells
– Loss of meridional arrangement associated
experimentally with cataract
Membrane specializations in epithelial
cells
• Simple basal membrane
– Attached to anterior capsule by hemidesmosomes
• Complex lateral membrane
– Membrane shows gentle undulations
– Attached to one another by desmosomes
– Gap junctions present – allow free movement of
small molecules between cells (But of higher
resistant crystalline type)
– Also allows for intercellular communication
• NO tight junctions in epithelium
Mature Lens Fibres
in lateral interdigitations with pronounced
elongation of basal and apical portions
– Flattened successive generations of nuclei form an arch
forwards when traced into deeper portions of lens
– Appears as a S or C shaped curve in meridional sections
– Cytoskeletal participation is assumed for lens bow
– Termination of bow when deeper cells lose nuclei
– At equator nucleated zone is 300-500 µm thick
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• Fibres laid down in concentric layers

– Outermost lie in cortex
– Innermost core the nucleus
• Division between these 2 are arbitrary
– ie; Junction between feotal and postfoetal fibres
• Fibres are spindle shaped
• Hexagonal in cross section
• Form radial rows in cortex – lose their regularity
with increasing depth
• Fibres thinner posteriorly – explain asymmetrical
shape of lens
• Tips of fibres meet other fibres to form sutures

Lens Sutures
• Tips of fibres of same plane expand, flatten
and curve to insert into sutures at anterior and
posterior poles
• Thus anterior suture is formed by the apical
parts of the lens fibres and posterior suture by
the basal parts
• Overlapping and interlocking below the 10th
layer of cortical cells
• Foetal lens: anterior erect Y and posterior
inverted Y suture

• After birth, more symmetrical branch points are

added to succeeding suture lines – adult nucleus
is a 9/12 point stellate structure
• In senescence there is further irregular sub-
branching
• These growth shells responsible for optical
discontinuity seen in adult nucleus
• Suture system is a means of accommodating
growth of lens while retaining cross-sectional
configuration
• However, suture is a site of increased spherical
abberation in lens
• Sutural arrangement seen in sutural cataract
Ultrastructure of lens fiber
• Fewer organelles
• Denser amorphous granular cytoplasm
– Due to high protein content of lens
• Fibres contain all alpha, beta and gamma
crystallins
• Highest amount of protein content of any cell in
body – 35% of wet weight is protein
• Deeper cortex and nuclear fibres are
completely organelle free and membrane
definition poor

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Membrane specializations of lens
fibres
1. Ball and socket like interdigitations
– In superficial 8-10 layers of anterior cortex
– On lateral sides of hexagonal cell
– Arranged regularly along length of fibre
– Cells of same layer attached firmly with each other
and loosely with preceeding and succeeding layers
– Important for movement of fibres during
accommodation
4. Gap junctions
• Are low resistance (non-crystalline) junctions
• Mostly along lateral membrane
• Also within interdigitating processes
(ball&socket, tongue&groove) and sparsely on
broad face of fibre
• NOT within sutural zones (ant./post. tips)
• Function:
I. Conjoin large areas of membrane to contribute
to fibre order and transparency
II. Provide pathways for metabolic co-operation
Zones of Lens
• Approximately nucleus occupies 84% of the lens
and cortex occupies 16%.
• The cortex consists of recently formed nucleated
fibers which lie outside the adult nucleus of the
lens.
• The fibers of the cortex are loosely arranged
whereas fibers of the nucleus are arranged in
more compact fashion, the reason for which the
nucleus is harder in consistency than cortex.
• Epinucleus is formed by the zone between foetal
nucleus and cortex.
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2. Tongue and groove joints
– In deepest cortex and nucleus
– In lateral surface and angles
– Provide more interlocking
• Both these joints are specializations to maintain
fibre order which is essential for transparency
whilst allowing limited degree of fibre sliding
and certain amount of flexing in accommodation
3. Desmosomes
– In elongating fibres
– Not mature fibres
– Form a co-ordinating role in fibre growth
5. Square array membranes
• Has endocytotic vesicles
 Fibers lack tight junctions
• The nucleus is further subdivided into
– Embryonic
– Fetal
– Infantile
– adult nuclei.
• Primary lens fiber cells, formed in the lens vesicle
during embryogenesis forms the embryonic nucleus
• Fibers laid down around the embryonic nucleus
before birth forms the foetal nucleus.
• After birth, new fibers formed before puberty give
rise to infantile nucleus
• Adult nucleus is formed after puberty.
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• 97% anaerobic - glycolysis
• 3% aerobic – Kreb cycle (supply 20% of ATP)
• Pentose-Phosphate pathway – for
ribonucleoprotein synthesis and NADPH for
glutathione reduction
• Sorbitol pathway – coenzyme for PPP
Lens with age
• With age, the relative thickness of the cortex
increases
• The lens also adopts an increasingly curved shape
so that older lenses have more refractive power.
• However, the index of refraction decreases with
age, probably as a result of the increasing presence
of insoluble protein particles.
• Thus, the eye may become either more hyperopic
or more myopic with age, depending on the
balance of these opposing changes.
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Lens metabolism
• Surfaces of lens bathed in aqueous –
replenished by bulk flow anteriorly
• Posteriorly movement of aqueous restricted
due to zonules
• Glucose in aqueous similar to plasma (100mg),
slightly lower in vitreous (90mg)
• Aqueous oxygen is 60mmHg
• Lens metabolism is therefore chiefly anaerobic
Lens transparency factors
1. High refractive index due to high protein content
2. Organization and regularity of fiber packing
3. Homogenous structure of fiber with each generation
4. Small size of extracellular space (less than 1%)
5. Cells not rich in organelles
6. Cell nuclei present as monolayer
7. Nuclei in multilayers displaced to periphery or absent
8. Regulation of ionic and water content
9. Graded changes in refractive index reduces chromatic
abberations
10. Metabolic activity at center of lens being negligible
Ciliary Zonule
• Zonule of Zinn or suspensory ligament of lens
are a group of radially arranged, thread like
fibres which helps the to held in position.
• Arise from basal lamella of NPE of ciliary body
to insert into the zonular lamella of peripheral
lens capsule in the periequatorial region
• Helps in accommodation
• Form a ring shaped diaphragm dividing eye into
anterior and posterior segments
• Roughly triangular in cross-section
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• Marfan Syndrome
– Associated with superior lens dislocation due to
inferior zonules being most frequently affected
– Myopia
– Hyperoropia if highly subluxated lens
– Squint
– Early glaucoma and cataract
– Joint disease
– Cardiovascular disease
– Associated with mutations in fibrillin
– Can be due to chromosomal defects of 15q21.1
• The zonular plexuses are firmly attached to the bases of
the ciliary valleys by fine and coarse fibrils
• Known as tension fibers
• The leave main strands and run anteriorly at an acute
angle
• Anchor to BM in depths of valleys
• Play an important role in accommodation by stabilizing
zonules
• Near anterior margin of the pars plicata, each zonular
plexuses always bend into zonular forks, which consist of
three zonular fiber groups- anterior, posterior and
equatorial fibers
• Entire zonular apparatus is always bent at zonular fork
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• Base of triangle is concave and faces equatorial
edge of lens
• Apex is elongated and curved and follows valleys
of ciliary processes, prolonged over the pars
plana upto the ora serrata
• Composed of FIBRILLIN
– Arranged in bundles of 2-5 fine fibres about 8-12 nm
– PAS +ve
– Resistant to collagenase, but digested by trypsin
– Used in ICCE where alphachymotrypsin is used to
digest zonules but not lens capsule
– Fibrillin maps to chromosome 15 q21.1
• Most of the zonules arise from posterior part of pars
plana, about 1.5 mm from ora serrata.
• Theses fibers run forward as a feltwork in pars plana
blending with the basement membrane of the non
pigmented epithelium of pars plana.
• These fibers reach posterior margin of the pars plicata
and turn into zonular plexuses.
• These zonular plexuses run through the valley of cilliary
processes attaching to their lateral walls
• Each zonular plexus consists of broad flattened fiber
strands which cross and join each other in a regular
pattern
• This secondary anchorage is thought to be extremely
important in relation to accommodation
• Explains how an equatorial force is exerted upon the
lens by fibers that originate partly in the pars plana
• Preequatorial and postequatorial insertions are
different
• Pre-equatorial fibers are dense, insert at approximately
same distance from equator (1.5mm) as an irregular
double row of bundles
• Zonular insertions flatten in the plane of the capsule
• Then split into small finger-like processes which fan out
and run into lens capsule to form the zonular lamella
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4 main topographic zones of zonule
• Hyaloid zonules
– Flimsier structure
– Single layers of fibers
– Runs from pars plana to attach to lens blending
with hyalocapsular ligament of Weiger
• Anterior zonules with age:
– Number of anterior zonules decrease
– Their insertions to lens capsule moves forward
centrally
– Their origins from pars plana also move anteriorly
– ? Due to increase in synthesis of material
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• Pars orbicularis: The part of the zonules which lie
over pars plana.
• Zonular plexus: part of the zonules that lie between
the cilliary processes.
• Zonular fork: the point of angulation of the zonule,
which lies at the mid zone of cilliary valleys.
• Zonular limbs: consists of
– Anterior zonular limb: passes from pars plana to pre-
equatorial part of the lens - majority
• Supplemented from pars plicata
– Posterior zonular limb: passes from pars plicata to post-
equatorial part of the lens
• Supplemented from pars plana
– Equatorial Zonular limb: passes from pars plicata to lens
equator - few
• Equatorial zonule
– Sparse and poorly developed
– Fan out in brush like manner
– Insert to capsule almost perpendicularly
– Insert mainly just anterior/posterior to equator
– Merge with meridional fibers
• Posterior zonule:
– Insert in 2-3 layers
– Fan out more
– Show less interconnections
– Fibers relatively less well developed than anterior
– Anteriorly insert at posterior edge of equator,
posteriorly 1.25mm behind from equator
Depending on their attachment, the
zonules can be further divided into
• Primary zonules: Those attached to lens is
called primary zonules.
• Secondary zonules: Those that connect the
primary zonules with each other
• Tension zonules or tension fibres: These are
fibers which anchor the primary zonules to the
basement membrane of the valleys of cilliary
processes.
– They play an important role in accommodation.
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• The space between anterior and posterior

zonules is called Canal of Hannover.
– It is subdivided into smaller spaces with fibres of the
equatorial zonules.
– Mucoid character of zonules maybe a diffusion
barrier between posterior chamber and vitreous
• The space between post-equatorial zonules and
hyaloid zonules are known as Canal of Petit.
• Hyalocapsular zonule:
– Narrow band of fibers from on lens capsule
– Between insertions of posterior and hyaloid zonule
– Corresponds to ligament of Weiger
– Fibers mainly radial

Circumferential Zonular Girdles

• Few flimsy circumferential structures lying in
relation to ciliary body
• Anterior Girdle:
– Arise from posterior zonular fibers
– Lies on surface of anterior hyaloid binding it to ciliary
processes and resisting pull from coronary vitreous tract
• Posterior Girdle:
– Lies on pars plana
– Resists pull of median vitreous tracts
• Aberrant zonular fibers separate from main zonules
are commonly found close to ora serrata, in retinal
abnormalities

• Anterior zonule free area:

Aging of Zonule – 8 mm at 20 years
– 6.5 mm in eighth decade
• Development of zonule:
– Or even 5.5 mm – may intrude into region selected for
– Zonular fibers are secreted by the ciliary epithelium at capsulotomy
the end of the third month of gestation.
• Anterior hyaloid attachment to zonule:
• Fetal and infantile zonular fibers are finer, less
aggregated, richer in proteoglycans than adults – In childhood closely attached to whole posterior
zonular insertion and lens
• Elderly fibers are finer, more sparse, rupture more
– Adult, maybe peeled back to zonular insertion – its
readily
strongest attachment
• First to decades – zonular attachments narrow
• In ICCE: even full thickness of lens capsule maybe
• With time, broaden, move centrally both anteriorly seperated
and posteriorly

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• During ICCE:
– Most of zonular complex is torn from capsule
– Only tips of anterior zonular insertions and few
meridional fibers remaing
• During ECCE: Zonule may tear partially
– With PCR
– Preferential separation of posterior and meridional
fibers
– 5% detected at surgery, more postmortem
• Pseudoexfoliation: Zonule weak – four times more
likely to rupture in Sx
• Pigment dispersion: Rubbing of posterior iris across
zonules responsible for iris pigment loss
• At the time of its formation at 30 days of gestation, the
lens vesicle is approximately 0.2 mm in diameter.
• Because the lens vesicle was formed through a process
of invagination of the surface ectoderm, the apices of
the cuboidal cells are oriented toward the lumen of the
lens vesicle, with the base of each cell attached to the
capsule around the periphery of the vesicle.
• At the same time that the lens vesicle is forming, the
optic vesicle is invaginating to form the 2-layered optic
cup.
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Development of Lens
• Begins very early in embryogenesis
• At approximately 25 days of gestation, 2 lateral evaginations,
called the optic vesicles, form from the forebrain-
diencephalon.
• Optic vesicles enlarge and extend laterally
• Become closely apposed and adherent to the surface
ectoderm and form a single layer of cuboidal cells, in 2
patches on either side of the head.
• The ectoderm cells that overlie the optic vesicles become
columnar at approximately 27 days of gestation.
• This area of thickened cells is called the lens placode.
• Growth factors of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)
family are required for formation of the lens placode and,
subsequently, the lens.
Lens Pit
• Appears at 29 days of gestation as an indentation
(infolding) of the lens placode.
• The lens pit deepens and invaginates to form the lens
vesicle.
Lens Vesicle
• As the lens pit continues to invaginate, the stalk of cells
connecting it to the surface ectoderm degenerates by
apoptosis
• Lens cells become separated from the surface
ectoderm.
• The resultant sphere, a single layer of cuboidal cells
encased in a basement membrane (the lens capsule),
is the lens vesicle.
Primary Lens Fibers and the Embryonic Nucleus
• The cells in the posterior layer of the lens vesicle stop dividing
and begin to elongate.
• As they elongate, they begin to fill the lumen of the lens vesicle.
• At approximately 40 days of gestation, the lumen of the lens
vesicle is obliterated.
• The elongated cells are called the primary lens fibers.
• As the fiber cells mature, their nuclei and other membrane-
bound organelles undergo degradation, a process that reduces
light scattering.
• The primary lens fibers make up the embryonic nucleus that
will ultimately occupy the central area of the adult lens.
• The cells of the anterior lens vesicle remain as a monolayer of
cuboidal cells, the lens epithelium. Subsequent growth of the
lens is due to proliferation within the epithelium.
• The lens capsule develops as a basement membrane elaborated
by the lens epithelium anteriorly and by lens fibers posteriorly.
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Secondary Lens Fibers

• After they proliferate, the epithelial cells near the lens
equator elongate to form secondary lens fibers.
• New lens fibers are continually formed, layer upon layer. As
each secondary fiber cell detaches from the capsule, it
loses its nucleus and membrane-bound organelles.
• The secondary lens fibers formed between 2 and 8 months
of gestation make up the fetal nucleus.

Lens Sutures and the Fetal Nucleus

• Ends of elongating fibers interdigitate with the ends of
fibers arising on the opposite side of the lens, near the
anterior and posterior poles- form lens sutures
• Y-shaped sutures are recognizable at approximately 8
weeks of gestation, with an erect Y-suture appearing
anteriorly and an inverted Y-suture posteriorly
• With further growth, lens sutures become more complex

• The human lens weighs approximately 90 mg at Tunica Vasculosa Lentis

birth, and it increases in mass by approximately 2
mg per year as new fibers form throughout life.
• The central, or oldest, lens fibers gradually
become less malleable, and the lens nucleus
becomes more rigid.
• This process progressively reduces the amplitude
of accommodation.
• Around 1 month of gestation, the hyaloid artery, which
enters the eye at the optic nerve head (also called the
optic disc), branches to form a network of capillaries,
the tunica vasculosa lentis, on the posterior surface of
the lens capsule.
• These capillaries grow toward the equator of the lens,
where they anastomose with a second network of
capillaries, called the anterior pupillary membrane.
• This membrane derives from the ciliary veins and
covers the anterior surface of the lens.
• At approximately 9 weeks of gestation, the capillary
network surrounding the lens is fully developed;

• It disappears by an orderly process of programmed cell

death shortly before birth.
• Sometimes a remnant of the tunica vasculosa lentis
persists as a small opacity or strand, called a Mittendorf
dot, on the posterior aspect of the lens.
• Remnants of the pupillary membrane are often visible as
pupillary strands.

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