Intravitreal silicone and fluorosilicone oils: pathologic findings in rabbit eyes.

The effects of medical-grade intraocular silicone and commercial-grade fluorosilicone oils were studied in rabbit eyes. The experimental model consisted of lensectomized and vitrectomized eyes that did not undergo further treatment (Group 1), and three groups of lensectomized and vitrectomized eyes that were injected intravitreously 3 months earlier with medical-grade silicone oil of 1000 cs (Group 3), and 10,000 cs (Group 4). The silicone oil-injected eyes developed proliferative membranes. The fluorosilicone oil caused an intravitreous inflammatory reaction with vacuolated macrophages present around the oil that may have been due to the higher concentration of low-molecular-weight components found in the oil.