Further Experience with Vitreous Implants in Old Retinal Detachments

Abstract

The vitreous implant is not to be confused with the vitreous transplant. The implant is a technique for adding new vitreous to cases of retinal detachment, while the vitreous transplant is an exchange of clear vitreous for cloudy or bloody vitreous. The basic premise of the use of vitreous in retinal detachment was that it hydraulically could pump the retina back in place, but so could air or saline. The second premise for its use was that vitreous seemed to be what kept the retina normally attached in the first place, for the retina has no attachments between its two extremities—the ora serrata and the disc. The final premise is that vitreous is the normal inhabitant of the vitreous chamber. Therefore, replacement by more vitreous seemed the logical procedure. This has been well expressed by Dr. Graham Clark, who feels that the retina is a membrane in the midst