Blood-Retinal Barriers

The concept of a blood~retinal barrier is still relatively new in the ophthalmic literature. ~fuereas work on the blood-brain barrier was initiated in the first decade of this century, the blood retinal barrier has only recently been defined. Information accu mulated during the last 10 years has shown that the function of the blood-ocular barriers may be better understood if two main barrier systems are considered to exist in the eye. The blood-aqueous barrier regulates the exchanges between the blood and the intraocu lar fluids, and the blood-retinal barrier separates the neural tissue from the blood. Recent studies have shown that the blood-retinal barrier plays a fundamental role in controlling the microenvironment of the retina. Similarly, the significance of the blood-retinal barrier in retinal disease has become increasingly clear. Fluorescein angiography has demonstrated an intricate series of relationships between altera tions of the blood-retinal barrier and diverse retinal diseases, particularly vascular retinopathies and pigment epitheliopathies. Finally, in the past few years, vitreous fluorophotometry has pro vided a new and accurate index of the alteration of the blood-retinal barrier.