Trabecular meshwork

Trabecular meshwork
Enlarged general view of the iridial angle. (When enlarged, visible with older label of 'trabecular tissue')
Latin	reticulum trabeculare
Gray's	subject #225 1006
MeSH	Trabecular+Meshwork
Dorlands/Elsevier	r_10/12705894

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

The trabecular meshwork is an area of tissue in the eye located around the base of the cornea, near the ciliary body, and is responsible for draining the aqueous humor from the eye via the anterior chamber (the chamber on the front of the eye covered by the cornea).

The tissue is spongy and lined by trabeculocytes; it allows fluid to drain into a set of tubes called Schlemm's canal flowing into the blood system.

Parts

The meshwork is divided up into three parts, with characteristically different ultrastructures:

1. Inner uveal meshwork - Closest to the anterior chamber angle, contains thin cord-like trabeculae, orientated predominantly in a radial fashion, enclosing trabeculae spaces larger than the corneoscleral meshwork.
2. Corneoscleral meshwork - Contains a large amount of elastin, arranged as a series of thin, flat, perforated sheets arranged in a laminar pattern.
3. Juxtacanalicular tissue (also known as the cribriform meshwork) - Lies immediately adjacent to Schlemm's canal, composed of connective tissue ground substance full of glycoaminoglycans and glycoproteins. This thin strip of tissue is covered by a monolayer of endothelial cells.

See also

• Argon laser trabeculoplasty
• Glaucoma
• Intraocular pressure
• Ocular hypertension
• Trabeculectomy

External links

• Histology at Boston University 08005loa
• trabecular+reticulum at eMedicine Dictionary
• Diagram at ahaf.org
• Diagram at glaucoma-association.com

nl:Trabeculair netwerk