Vitreous fluorophotometry for clinical research. II. Method of data acquisition and processing.

Several methods of data analysis permit improved evaluation of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) by vitreous fluorophotometry. With the use of an algorithm for artifact correction, tested in vivo in situations in which large artifacts are expected, artifacts were reduced to less than the equivalent of 1 ng/mL in normal eyes 3 mm from the chorioretinal and lens peaks. A procedure developed to evaluate the lens transmittance was found to have a 12% reproducibility. In addition, the anterior and posterior sources of leakage could be separated by choosing the appropriate time of measurement after injection of the dye. Moreover, a procedure to estimate quantitatively the inward permeability of the BRB yielded a preliminary estimate of 7.2 X 10(-8) cm/s in normal subjects.