ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the medium and long-term influence of silicon oil versus heavy silicone oil on rabbit retinas.Methods 28 health standard rabbits were randomly divided into A,B and C groups,with 12,12 and 4 rabbits respectively.All rabbits received routine vitrectomy and tamponade with silicone oil (group A),or heavy silicone oil (group B) or balanced salt solution (group C).After 4,8,12 and 24 weeks,the retinal b-wave amplitude was measured by ERG,posterior retinal thickness was measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT).Retinal ultrastructure and tissue morphology were observed by transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy.Results Compare to group C,the b-wave amplitude decreased at 4 weeks after surgery,and decreased at 8 weeks after surgery for group B,and decreased at 8 weeks after surgery,and decreased at 24 weeks after surgery for group A.The decreases were greater in group B than group A at 8,12,24 weeks after surgery,the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The posterior retinal thickness of group A and B was thinner than group C at 24 weeks after surgery (P＜0.05).The decreases were greater in group B than group A,the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).Transmission electron microscopy and optical microscopy revealed severe pathological changes of retinal ultrastructure and morphology in group A and B rabbit eyes,at 12 weeks and 8 weeks after surgery respectively.The changes were more severe in group B and group A,including edema and necrosis in cone/rod cells,in disk membranes,mitochondria,cytoplasm,nucleus and other organelles.The morphological changes were also more severe in group B and group A,including degenerations of ganglion cell layer,inner nuclear layer changes.Those changes became more severe when the tamponade time extended.Conclusion The heavy silicone influence on visual function,ultrastructures,histomorphology of rabbit retinas is much worse than the silicon oil,and the effect is more significant with its time prolong.