Systemic mannitol increases retinal adhesiveness measured in vitro
X. Y. Yao, K. T. Moore and M. F. Marmor
Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305.
Pigmented rabbits were given mannitol intravenously, and at various times
thereafter blood osmolality was measured and eyes were enucleated to
measure retinal adhesiveness to the retinal pigment epithelium. Both blood
osmolality and retinal adhesion increased in proportion to the dose of
mannitol. We found a measurable increase in retinal adhesion as early as 10
minutes and as late as 4 hours after mannitol injection. We suspect that
mannitol dehydrates the subretinal space and thereby enhances the adhesive
properties of the interphotoreceptor matrix or tightens the interdigitation
between photoreceptors and pigment epithelial cells. Our data suggest that
mannitol could have clinical application in the management of retinal
detachments.
