The bursa premacularis is a closed cup-shaped pouch. In this area, the vitreous cortex is thinning and is practically absent in the region corresponding to the central fovea. This explains the extreme vulnerability of the perifoveal part of the vitreous body, the damage of which causes the prolapse of the internal vitreal structures.
I was the first to discover that the bursa premacularis has an anterior wall, which is an intravitreal membrane with numerous holes, giving it a sieve-like appearance. I named this new anatomical structure membrana cribrosa Makhacheva.
The posterior wall of the bursa premacularis is formed by a thin membrane, which has a spongy layer on the vitreal side (stratum spongiosum Makhacheva). There is no such layer in the central part of the posterior wall corresponding to the fovea of the retina. The spongy substance is easily removed from the surface of the posterior wall of the bursa premacularis via a transvitreal approach.
The posterior wall of the bursa premacularis is connected to the internal limiting membrane (ILM) by a circular hyaloideo-macular ligament (J.Worst), similar to the ligamentum hyaloideo- capsulare Wieger. Similar to the retrolental space, there is a slit-like subbursal space between the posterior wall of the bursa premacularis and the retina. The subbursal space is filled with transparent fluid.
