“Heavy oil” for intraocular tamponade in retinal detachment surgery
- 1UCSF Beckman Vision Center, 10 Koret Way, K301, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- 2Valley Retina Institute, 1309 E Ridge Road, McAllen, TX 78503, USA
- Correspondence to: Robert Bhisitkul MD, PhD, UCSF Beckman Vision Center, 10 Koret Way, K301, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; bhisititsa.ucsf.edu
Thicker than water
In this issue of BJO (p 662) Wong and colleagues present data from a prospective pilot study on the use of a long acting, heavier than water internal tamponade agent, Densiron-68, for retinal detachment (RD) repair. Some time ago1 we drew up a retinal surgeon’s wish list of vitreoretinal agents and adjuncts that are currently sorely lacking in surgical technology, including enzymatic vitreolysis, and antifibroproliferative drugs. Looming large on that wish list was a long acting heavier than water tamponade agent. Long coveted by vitrectomy surgeons, extended tamponade with heavy liquids would at last allow us to address the well recognised limitations of current tamponade agents, limitations that are for the most part imposed by gravity. Now, long acting inferior tamponade with “heavy oil” may soon be at hand, as described in this article.
The era of intraocular tamponade was ushered in with the …
