Scientific Concerns About Recent Fluid-Structure Interaction Models of the Aqueous Humor Outflow Pathway.

Abstract

The development of sophisticated computational tools, combined with advanced ultrastructural imaging techniques, offers unprecedented opportunities to investigate aqueous humor outflow through the conventional pathway, the site of pathology responsible for ocular hypertension in glaucoma. Recently, a series of studies1-7 have used computational methods to study conventional outflow function. Regrettably, these studies1-7 appear to contain fundamental errors that lead to predictions that are inconsistent with established outflow physiology and raise concerns regarding methodology and apparent misrepresentations of published work. As a result, this body of work draws potentially misleading and erroneous conclusions about aqueous humor dynamics. It is therefore important to recognize and discuss these works to correct the archival record and avoid misdirecting future research.