[Time course of changes in aqueous flare following intravitreous gas injection in rabbits]

The quantitative changes of the aqueous flare following intravitreous gas injection were determined by laser flare-cell metry in rabbits. A volume of 0.4 ml of air, 100% sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), or 100% perfluoropropane (C3F8), was injected separately into the vitreous of pigmented rabbits. The normal range of the aqueous flare was 7.8 +/- 3.0 (photon counts/msec). Each model showed an increase of aqueous flare on the first day (air: 18.9 +/- 9.1, SF6: 19.5 +/- 11.5, C3F8: 40.8 +/- 22.8). Subsequently, the aqueous flare of air-injected eyes gradually decreased, while that of SF6-injected eyes increased on the 4th day, and then gradually decreased. Also that of C3F8-injected eyes increased on the 4th day, and the 7th day, then decreased on the 14th day, but it was still higher than normal. Cataracts developed in two of the five eyes injected with SF6 and all of the four eyes injected with C3F8. These findings revealed that following intravitreous gas injection, disruption of the blood-ocular barrier depended on the expansibility of the gas and the length of time it remained in the vitreous cavity.