title: Angioarchitecture of the human choroid.
abstract: The angioarchitecture of the human choroid was studied by corrosion vascular casts and scanning electron microscopy. The relationship of the large choroidal arteries and veins, medium-sized arteries and veins, precapillary arterioles and postcapillary venules, and the choriocapillaris is described. At the posterior pole, a lobular arrangement of the choriocapillaris is seen. At the equatorial area, the capillaries run a more direct course, joining the precapillary arterioles to the capillary venules in a spindle-shaped segment of the choroidal vasculature. At the periphery, the choroidal arterioles and venules take a parallel course, with the choriocapillaris joining the adjacent arterioles and venules at a right angle and appearing in a ladder pattern. The regional variation of the angioarchitecture of the human choroid provides supporting evidence for the unique regional characteristics of choroidal blood flow.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008875:Middle Aged