CONTRAST-ENHANCED MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING CONFIRMATION OF AN ANTERIOR PROTEIN PATHWAY IN NORMAL RABBIT EYES

Purpose. Contrast-enhanced proton magnetic resonance imaging (H-1 MRI) has been used as a quantitative, noninvasive method to corroborate a pathway for the diffusion of plasma-derived protein into the aqueous h umor in the normal rabbit eye. Methods. T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were produced over 1- to 3-hour periods after the intravenous injection of gadolinium diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid. Results. Analysis of the images yielded the time dependence of signal enhanceme nts within the areas of interest. The ciliary body showed an immediate sharp increase, followed by a gradual decrease in signal enhancement: with time. Although a gradual increase in signal enhancement was foun d in the anterior chamber, no significant change occurred in the poste rior chamber, A similar MRI experiment with an owl monkey produced par allel, though smaller, signal enhancements in the ciliary body and ant erior chamber. Again, however, no significant change was found in the posterior chamber. Conclusions. These results support and extend those of recent fluorophotometric, tracer-localization, and modeling studie s demonstrating that in the normal rabbit and monkey eye, plasma-deriv ed proteins bypass the posterior chamber, entering the anterior chambe r directly via the iris root.