Experimental serous retinal detachment and focal pigment epithelial damage
A. Negi and M. F. Marmor
We made small nonrhegmatogenous retinal detachments (blebs) in rabbits over
regions of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) that were damaged mechanically
or by laser photocoagulation. Fluorescein diffused readily into blebs made
over damaged RPE, but the subretinal fluid was resorbed more quickly than
from blebs overlying normal RPE. Thus, focal damage appears to facilitate
water movement from, rather than into, the subretinal space. We conclude
from these data that central serous chorioretinopathy is not caused simply
by a passive "leak" through the RPE barrier, and the effects of
photocoagulation in this disease cannot be explained simply as sealing such
a leak.
