Intravitreal silicone injection in retinal detachment.

The use of intravitreal liquid silicone injection into the human eye was first reported by Cibis, Becker, Okun, and Canaan (I962).Until then, the prognosis of retinal detachment complicated by massive vitreous retraction (MVR) was considered to be hopeless.This form of treatment was first used in this hospital in I964.Its use was considered only when it became apparent that conventional re-attachment procedures had failed or had no chance of success.This paper reports the results obtained with liquid silicone alone or in conjunction with a scleral buckling procedure in 36 such cases.Liquid silicone combats MVR by freeing adhesions between vitreous membranes and the retina, and by tamponading the retina against the choroid.Patients and method