Validation of a model of non-rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

To study the movement of subretinal fluid, we have injected fluid into the subretinal space through a glass micropipette and monitored its resorption. This technique has been criticized as a model of non-rhegmatogenous detachment because the small retinal hole made by the micropipette might allow efflux of subretinal fluid into the vitreous. The present experiments answer this criticism: we found that sealing the micropipette hole with cyanoacrylate, mucilage or an air bubble had no effect on the rate of subretinal fluid resorption, and detachments with two to five micropipette holes did not resorb faster than those with only one.