Advance in the histopathological research of internal limiting membrane / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

The internal limiting membrane located at vitreoretinal interface is formed by the contiguous basement membranes of Müller cells.Nowadays, vitrectomy combined with internal limiting membrane peeling has been widely used in many operations involving macular area.Although its clinical efficacy and safety have been demonstrated, it lacks the necessary histological support.At the same time, many studies have shown that the internal limiting membrane plays different roles in the occurrence of different diseases.Current studies have found that the proliferation of inflammatory cells, glial cells and vitreous cells leads to the physiological dysfunction of the vitreoretinal interface, and the internal limiting membrane can also become a scaffold for the proliferation of myofibroblasts, which will lead to the occurrence of macular diseases.This article reviewed the histological research of internal limiting membrane in terms of diabetic retinopathy, idiopathic macular hole and idiopathic macular epiretinal membrane, hoping to better understand the internal limiting membrane under pathological conditions and to confirm the safety and necessity of internal limiting membrane peeling from ultrastructure.