PRODUCTION OF HUMAN LENS CAPSULE ILLUSTRATED BY A CASE OF CHRONIC LENTICULAR CHALCOSIS

Abstract

The osmiophilic capsular inclusion bodies in a case of accidental lenticular chalcosis have been used as an in vivo indicator of capsular production. Copper stimulation and hence inclusion impregnation lasted 5 years and was stopped 2 years before removal of the lens by extraction of a foreign body. The amount of capsule produced in the two year period varied at different locations but it greatly exceeded the previously measured quantities. A capsular turnover is postulated with a capsular production by the epithelial cells and a surface resorption process. The production rate is considered to be relatively high in childhood and gradually subsides with increasing age.