The Role of Intraocular Pressure in the Development of the Chick Eye

Abstract

Introduction The cornea of the adult vertebrate eye has a smaller radius of curvature than the posterior segment of the eye. In very early development, by contrast, the radii of curvature of the cornea and sclera tend to be equal. The manner in which the corneal curvature develops, and the forces responsible for it, are the concern of this paper. The interplay of a large number of factors is undoubtedly necessary for the normal development of the corneal bulge. The present effort, however, was confined to an investigation of the role of mechanical forces generated, on the one hand, by intraocular pressure and, on the other, by structural differentiation of the eye wall. Previous studies in this series^1,2 have demonstrated that these forces are responsible for the increase in size of the eye as a whole as well as for the normal expansion of the sclera, choroid coat, pigmented