Pigment Dispersion Syndrome (PDS)

Liberation of iris pigment, due to a rubbing of the posterior iris by zonular fibers, and movement of the pigment through the pupil, into the anterior chamber, and into the iridocorneal angle; eventually can block aqueous outflow through the angle, elevating intraocular pressure and resulting in pigmentary glaucoma; often seen (through a biomicroscope) as a granular brown vertical band along the corneal endothelium (known as Krukenberg’s spindles), as well as pigment dusting on the lens, the surface of the iris and at Schwalbe’s line; typically encountered in young, white males between the ages of 20 and 40 years.