Perfluorophenanthrene, a liquid fluorocarbon with a specific gravity approximately twice that of water, potentially offers certain advantages as a vitreous substitute in vitreoretinal surgery. To determine its efficacy and safety we first purified it by chemical methods used in the preparation of experimental blood substitutes to a level at which it was not at all or only minimally toxic to culture-grown retinoblastoma cells. Nineteen of 22 vitrectomized eyes of white New Zealand rabbits injected with this purified perfluorophenanthrene showed satisfactory clinical tolerance. Light and electron microscopy showed minimal or no toxic effects in the 19 eyes, although uptake of perfluorophenanthrene by some preretinal cells was observed 28 days after implantation. Postoperative light-adapted electroretinography recordings of eight of the injected eyes showed no significant change. Perfluorophenanthrene injected into the anterior chamber of the rabbit eyes had toxic effects on the cornea.
If further experimentations confirm our findings, perfluorophenanthrene may be a suitable transparent high-density liquid for temporary use in surgery to repair retinal detachments.
A contact Nd:YAG laser with a sapphire tip was used to perform excisions in the eyelids of rabbits in order to compare the healing process and the wound strength to similar excisions made using a stainless steel blade. There was no bleeding from the excision made with the Nd:YAG laser; both groups showed similar wound strength and scars at the end of the experimental study.
Transvitreal pars plana sclerotomy using the contact Nd:YAG laser with a sapphire probe was performed on a group of rabbit eyes and compared with a similar procedure performed with a Ziegler knife. Although the intraocular pressure (IOP) was lowered in both groups of animals, the reduction was greater and more lasting in the group on which the Nd:YAG laser with sapphire probe was used. This technique may have application in cases with extensive peripheral anterior synechiae or where a vitrectomy as a combination procedure to clear ocular media is performed.
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