Krypton laser photocoagulation of the posterior fundus of the rat created white retinal lesions comparable with therapeutic burns in the human. Twenty-four hours after injury, the retinal pigment epithelium was destroyed and the majority of the endothelial cells survived. The choriocapillary lumen was occluded. Bruch's membrane was not fractured nor had it undergone thermal lysis in any area studied but choriocapillary endothelial cell buds invaded the choroidal side of Bruch's membrane. After seven days, cellular protrusions arising from retinal pigment epithelial cells traversed Bruch's membrane through full-thickness defects and entered the choroid. Although intense laser burns may destroy Bruch's membrane, we conclude from this data that many so-called "breaks" in Bruch's membrane following laser therapy are formed by cellular processes and are not caused primarily by laser coagulation.