Endoretinal biopsy in immunosuppressed and healthy patients with retinitis. Indications, utility, and techniques.

Endoretinal biopsies were taken using pars plana vitrectomy techniques in 13 eyes with inflammatory or infectious retinitis complicated by retinal detachment (RD). The surgical technique has evolved over a 4-year period. The authors review the surgical technique including techniques of removal of the vitreous, appropriate hemostasis, selection of the biopsy site, and atraumatic removal of the tissue from the vitreous cavity. Careful processing of the material for histopathology, immunopathology, and electron microscopy is necessary and has provided useful information in patient diagnosis and management. The authors have used the technique in cases of rhegmatogenous RD complicating presumed viral retinitis. The technique has proven to be useful in confirming the clinical diagnosis and is relatively safe when used in selected cases.