Effects of experimental hyperlipoproteinaemia on the retina and optic nerve in rhesus monkeys.

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Abstract
Hyperlipoproteinemia resulting from thyroid suppression and long-term ingestion of a high cholesterol diet caused prolonged lipemia retinalis in 6 rhesus monkeys. No atherosclerotic deposits or other ophthalmoscopically visible changes of the retinal vasculature were detectable. In 2 animals histopathological examination revealed bilateral segmental atrophy and gliosis of the optic nerves bearing a resemblance to chronic ischemic optic neuropathy. One monkey developed ophthalmoscopically visible temporal pallor of the optic discs. Emboli of fat laden cells in blood vessels of the brain in 1 of these 2 monkeys, and in a penicillated splenic artery in the other animals, were associated with signs of systemic embolic occlusion, suggesting a similar course in the development of optic nerve damage.