Anterior Chamber

 

🧠 What Is the Anterior Chamber?

The anterior chamber is the fluid-filled space between the cornea and the iris. It’s part of the eye's anterior segment and is filled with aqueous humor, a clear fluid that nourishes internal structures and helps maintain pressure.

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📍 Boundaries of the Anterior Chamber:

• Anteriorly: Corneal endothelium

• Posteriorly: Anterior surface of the iris and the lens (via the pupil)

• Peripherally: Trabecular meshwork, Schlemm’s canal, and iridocorneal angle (also called anterior chamber angle)

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🌊 Contents:

• Aqueous humor:

  • Produced by the ciliary processes in the posterior chamber

  • Flows through the pupil into the anterior chamber

  • Drains out through the trabecular meshwork → Schlemm’s canal → episcleral veins

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📚 Anatomical Features to Know:

1. Iridocorneal Angle (Anterior Chamber Angle):

   • Critical drainage site for aqueous humor

   • Contains:

     • Trabecular meshwork

     • Schlemm’s canal

     • Scleral spur

     • Ciliary body band

     • Schwalbe’s line (marks the end of Descemet’s membrane)

2. Depth of Anterior Chamber:

   • Normal depth: ~2.5–3.5 mm (varies with age, sex, and refractive error)

   • Can be assessed clinically using slit-lamp or gonioscopy

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🔬 Function of the Anterior Chamber:

• Maintains intraocular pressure (IOP)

• Provides nutrients (e.g., glucose, amino acids) to the cornea and lens (both avascular)

• Removes metabolic waste

• Allows passage of light through a clear medium

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🧾 Clinical Significance:

• Glaucoma:

  • Elevated IOP due to impaired aqueous humor drainage

  • Can result from angle closure (narrow-angle glaucoma) or open-angle dysfunction

• Hyphema:

  • Blood in the anterior chamber (often from trauma)

• Hypopyon:

  • Accumulation of pus/inflammatory cells (seen in infections like endophthalmitis)

• Shallow Anterior Chamber:

  • Seen in angle-closure glaucoma or lens subluxation