Histopathological evaluation of geriatric ophthalmic veins: A cadaveric study

Context: The ophthalmic vein (OV) has become a source of increasing curiosity since many aspects of vascular surgery of the orbit have become feasible. At the same time, histochemical analysis of veins, in general, tends to skip the OV. Moreover, age-related changes in the OVs remain untouched. Aims: Our research explores features of aging in the OV. Settings and Design: We immunohistochemically evaluated the superior and inferior OVs in 49 orbits of 28 formalin-embalmed human cadavers (age 77.86 ± 13.38) without visible vascular malformations. Materials and Methods: Specimens were stained by hematoxylin and eosin. Verhoeff, laminin, and CD31 stains were used on a subset of the OVs. Statistical Analysis Used: Simple descriptive statistics. Results: The findings include vasa vasorum (VV) in OVs smaller than 0.5 mm, a valvular structure in one of the VV, the presence of platelet endothelial adhesion molecule granules in donors older than 80 years of age, and changes in the pattern of elastin and collagen in different age categories. Conclusion: The study visualizes new aspects in the veins of elderly individuals and reveals OVs’ structures unreported previously.