Descemet's membrane ( or the Descemet membrane) is the

basement membrane The basement membrane is a thin, pliable sheet-like type of extracellular matrix that provides cell and tissue support and acts as a platform for complex signalling. The basement membrane sits between Epithelium, epithelial tissues including mesot ...

that lies between the corneal proper substance, also called stroma, and the endothelial layer of the cornea. It is composed of different kinds of collagen (Type IV and VIII) than the stroma. The endothelial layer is located at the posterior of the cornea. Descemet's membrane, as the basement membrane for the endothelial layer, is secreted by the single layer of squamous epithelial cells that compose the endothelial layer of the cornea.

Structure

Its thickness ranges from 3 μm at birth to 8–10 μm in adults.Johnson DH, Bourne WM, Campbell RJ: The ultrastructure of Descemet's membrane. I. Changes with age in normal cornea. Arch Ophthalmol 100:1942, 1982 The corneal endothelium is a single layer of squamous cells covering the surface of the cornea that faces the anterior chamber.

Clinical significance

Significant damage to the membrane may require a corneal transplant. Damage caused by the hereditary condition known as

Fuchs dystrophy Fuchs dystrophy, also referred to as Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) and Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (FED), is a slowly progressing corneal dystrophy that usually affects both eyes and is slightly more common in women than in men. Althou ...

(q.v.)—where Descemet's membrane progressively fails and the cornea thickens and clouds because the exchange of nutrients/fluids between the cornea and the rest of the eye is interrupted—can be reversed by surgery. The surgeon can scrape away the damaged Descemet membrane and insert/transplant a new membrane harvested from the eye of a donor. In the process most of the squamous cells of the donor membrane survive to dramatically and emphatically reverse the corneal deterioration (see DMEK surgery). Descemet's membrane is also a site of copper deposition in patients with Wilson's disease or other liver diseases, leading to formation of Kayser-Fleischer rings.

History

It is also known as the Posterior limiting elastic lamina, lamina elastica posterior, and membrane of Demours. It was named after French physician

Jean Descemet Jean Descemet was a French physician and botanist (1732–1810) who first described what is now known as Descemet's membrane of the eye. He studied medicine in Paris (doctorate in 1757) and in 1759 he published a ''Catalog of the plants in the Gar ...

(1732–1810).

References

Histology A text and atlas. Michael H.Ross and Wojciech Pawlina 5th Edition 2006

External links

*
Diagram at dryeyezone.com
{{Authority control Human eye anatomy

Structure

Clinical significance

History

See also

References

External links