Oxygen induced retinopathy: the kitten model re-examined

We have studied the kitten model of oxygen induced retinopathy by the technique of corrosion vascular casting/scanning electron microscopy. The predominant morphological features of the kitten model are preretinal and intraretinal neovascularization with a minor component of arterio-venous shunting. This is contrasted with the active phase of the blinding disease in the human neonate which is characterised predominantly by so called 'mesenchymal arterio-venous shunting'. A failure to appreciate fundamental differences in the nature of oxygen induced retinopathy between the human infant and its kitten model we believe has led to erroneous conclusions about pathogenesis in the human neonate.