Temporary use of silicone oil in the treatment of proliferative vitreoretinopathy. An experimental study with a new animal model.

Homologous fibroblasts were injected into vitrectomized rabbit eyes. This injection produced a total retinal detachment in all ten eyes of a control series. In each case the detachment was due to the contraction of a membrane which had grown on the retinal surface as seen in human proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). In another group of ten eyes, silicone oil was injected before the fibroblastic membrane contracted, and removed again a few weeks later. This temporary tamponade of silicone oil reduced the rate of detachment to 50%. Silicone oil did not prevent the preretinal membrane from growing but mechanically decreased its contraction.