Super viscous silicone liquid in retinal surgery.

Very high viscosity (12500 centistokes) liquid silicone was injected into the vitreous of 47 eyes of 46 patients with complicated retinal detachment over a two year period. Only eyes judged inoperable by scleral buckling and/or vitrectomy techniques were considered. Complete anatomical reattachment was achieved in 34 cases (72%) while partial reattachment was achieved in a further six cases (13%). All eyes in which complete or partial retinal reattachment was achieved showed improvement in vision but this was usually restricted to count fingers or 6/60 at 3 months to 2 years follow-up. Mounting evidence now suggests that previous clinical opinions claiming an unacceptable toxicity rate with liquid silicone may be misleading.