Experimental long-term vitreous replacement with purified and nonpurified perfluorodecalin.

Highly purified perfluorodecalin and non-purified perfluorodecalin were injected into 34 rabbit eyes after mechanical vitrectomy, to evaluate the retinal tolerance in long-term vitreous replacement and the effect of purification on the retina. Unpurified perfluorodecalin caused severe inflammation and retinal damage and eight of ten eyes had developed retinal detachment after four weeks. In the eyes injected with highly purified perfluorodecalin, we observed retinal changes of the rod and cone, outer nuclear, and ganglion-cell layers after two weeks, which progressed to a thinning of all layers of the retina by the fourth week and to localized areas of retinal atrophy by the eighth week in the lower part of the eyes. Retinal damage in the upper part occurred after four weeks. At the perfluorocarbon-aqueous interface we observed a band of retinal necrosis that was noticed in all eyes four weeks postoperatively regardless of the substance used.