The effect of regional retinal photocoagulation on vitreal oxygen tension

PO2 measurements have been made for the first time within the retina and vitreous of cat eyes to compare normal and photocoagulated areas. This was done to test the hypothesis that the observed beneficial effects of pan-retinal photocoagulation therapy in the treatment of retinal vascular diseases with an ischemic origin, may be due to more oxygen becoming available to the remaining functioning retina. A xenon arc photocoagulator was used to photocoagulate large areas of cat retinas served by one major set of vessels while leaving the remaining retina untouched. After 6 months an acute experiment was performed in which retinal and vitreal oxygen tension profiles were measured using oxygen-sensitive microelectrodes to compare PO2 profiles in normal and photocoagulated regions, for two ventilation conditions: air and 100% O2. The only differences in PO2 values were found for the 100% O2 breathing condition, where values within the retina and in the overlying vitreous were larger in photocoagulated areas. It is proposed that any differences in PO2 distribution which occur for air breathing are masked by the autoregulatory capacity of the retinal circulation and the PO2 buffering capacity of hemoglobin.