THE EFFECT OF METABOLIC-INHIBITORS ON RETINAL ADHESION AND SUB-RETINAL FLUID RESORPTION

Abstract

Retinal adhesion and the resorption of subretinal fluid were studied in Dutch rabbits with 2 experimental techniques. In the 1st, small local detachments were made in vivo by injecting a small amount of fluid under the retina with a micropipette, and the time for resorption of the detachment was monitored. In the 2nd, strips of eyecup were maintained in a physiologic bathing medium and the force required to peel retina from the pigment epithelium was measured. These techniques showed that mechanisms for removing subretinal fluid and for maintaining retinal adhesion in vitro are enhanced by exposure to ouabain, are inhibited by exposure to cyanide and are inhibited by the replacement of the physiologic medium with normal saline. Metabolic systems may simultaneously hydrate and dehydrate the subretinal space and some factors important to the maintenance of normal adhesion are missing from normal saline.