Chorioretinal adhesion after argon laser photocoagulation.

A technique for examining chorioretinal adhesion in vitro investigated the strength of the adhesion resulting from photocoagulation. The adhesion was reduced only within the first days following photocoagulation, returned to normal by the third day and became enhanced at the fourth day, much earlier than previously supposed. Optimal adhesion and enhanced adhesion resulted only when the coagulation intensities used were sufficient to produce clearly visible lesions that became pigmented subsequently; second, best adhesion was produced with spot-diameters of 200 microns and greater; third, even under optimal coagulation conditions, single barriers were not able to resist extensive forcing, even when the exposures were confluent; fourth, only double barriers, consisting of two rows of exposures, were consistently able to withstand prolonged forcing. The best treatment for retinal tears is a double barrier of large, high-intensity coagulation spots, which affords enhanced adhesion after four days.