SECONDARY RETINAL DETACHMENT - ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF RETINA AND PIGMENT EPITHELIUM

Phase-contrast and electron microscopy of retina and pigment epithelium in secondary retinal detachment in five human eyes enucleated for choroidal malignant melanoma revealed characteristic changes quite similar to those found in experimental primary retinal detachment in monkeys.1-3 These similarities tend to rule out the vitreous or any of its constituents as a possible cause of the photoreceptor and pigment epithelial changes observed in experimental primary retinal detachment. It is suggested that the basic lesion common to both primary and secondary retinal detachment is spatial separation of the photoreceptors and pigment epithelium by subretinal fluid and a subsequent interference with metabolic interaction between the two cell layers. © 1969.