Proliferation of the ciliary epithelium with retinal neuronal and photoreceptor cell differentiation in human eyes with retinal detachment and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

Background: There is some in vitro evidence that the adult ciliary body might harbor an inactive population of stem/retinal progenitor cells (RPC), or that ciliary epithelial (CE) cells might have the capacity to trans-differentiate, which may result in a balance between neural and epithelial properties. We have reported alterations in the ciliary body (CB) and adjacent vitreous in vivo by endoscopic evaluation of human eyes with a history of retinal detachment (RD) and anterior proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR).

Methods: The present study examined with light microscopy three paraffin-embedded phthisic human eyes with RD and anterior PVR.