[Electron microscopic study of trachoma].

Abstract

The electron microscopic characteristics of the trachomatous conjunctiva and the trachoma agents and their evolution cycle are examined in a study on seven patients with Stage II trachoma, as classified by MacCallan, who had received no treatment. All the cellular epithelial structures remain intact despite the presence of pathological agents whose developmental cycle is entirely comparable to that observed "in vitro" in strain cultures. An imortant fact is the demonstration of macrophages in the sub-epithelial layers and of free pathological agents in the tarsal zone. The necrosis of the former may be responsible for the presence of the latter. A new hypothesis on the dynamics of trachoma infection is proposed together with its consequences in relationship to the forms of trachoma therapy.