THE SUBRETINAL FLUID IN IDIOPATHIC DETACHMENT OF THE RETINA

Abstract

This article presents a study of the chemistry of the fluid which is met with in idiopathic detachment of the retina. It is customary to designate this fluid as a subretinal exudate, but this nomenclature is not scientifically exact, since the fluid lies between the layers of the pigmented epithelium and the retina proper. Both these layers of cells are sensory, and it would seem more exact to call the fluid an intraretinal exudate. The opinion that this subretinal fluid and the fluid which fills the vitreous have the same viscosity and the same percentage of albumin is attributed to Leber. The supporters of the so-called retention theory of idiopathic detachment, following the lead of Gonin, attribute the lifting of the retina (it would be more exact to say the folding of the retina) to a passage of vitreous through the tear which one sees in 80 per cent