Perfluoro-n-butane. A gas for a maximum duration retinal tamponade.

The behavior of the gas perfluoro-n-butane (C4F10) in the rabbit vitreous suggests that the gas might be useful as a long-term intravitreal tamponade in retinal detachment surgery. Perfluoro-n-butane was found to expand more and remain in the eye longer than any gas previously reported. A 0.3-mL bubble expanded five times and displaced the entire rabbit vitreous in three days. The volume of the bubble began to shrink after one week, but still filled more than half the eye at three weeks. The time for total disappearance was more than three months.