[Ultrasonic investigations of the vitreous space in idiopathic retinal detachment (author's transl)].

63 patients suffering from unilateral, idiopathic detachment of the retina were examined by the A-scan ultrasound method. A vitreous degeneration always appeared in eyes with detachment of the retina, and this was severe in 52 eyes. In the other eye the degeneration of the vitreous body was much smaller and in 11 eyes it was not at all proved by ultrasound. In 24 eyes with detachment of the retina the subretinal space could be examined and it was always acoustically heterogenous. The observations concerning acoustic characteristics of the vitreous body may be important in planning of operative treatment and prophylaxis.