Expulsive choroidal effusion. A complication of intraocular surgery

R. S. Ruiz and P. C. Salmonsen

Massive serous choroidal effusion may occur as an expulsive complication of intraocular surgery. The pathophysiology of expulsive hemorrhage involves rupture of the short posterior ciliary arteries, while that of effusion involves massive exudation through the walls of the choroidal vessels. Many of the predisposing factors may be shared including atherosclerosis, hypertension, and sudden surgical decompression. The treatment of both entities is the same--swift closure of the wound, drainage of suprachoriodal blood or effusion through a posterior sclerotomy site, and injection of a physiologic solution into the anterior chamber to tamponade the leaking vessels and restore normal intraocular anatomic relationships. The visual prognosis following expulsive choroidal effusion is much more favorable than that of expulsive hemorrhage.