title: Kinetics of intraocular gases. Disappearance of air, sulfur hexafluoride, and perfluoropropane after pars plana vitrectomy.
abstract: Intraocular gas bubbles are an important source of internal tamponade for the treatment of retinal breaks in eyes requiring vitrectomy. The kinetics of disappearance of air, 20% sulfur hexafluoride, and 10% perfluoropropane were prospectively evaluated in 76 eyes undergoing pars plana vitrectomy. The absorption of each gas approximated a first-order kinetic equation with respect to bubble volume. The half-life of air was 1.6 days in phakic and 0.9 days in aphakic eyes. The half-life of 20% sulfur hexafluoride was 2.8 days in phakic and 2.4 days in aphakic eyes. The half-life of 10% perfluoropropane was 5.7 days in phakic, 4.5 days in aphakic, and 4.3 days in pseudophakic eyes. The difference in half-life among the three gases was significant. Intraocular gases had a shorter half-life in aphakic than in phakic eyes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 06510-8061.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000388:Air; D005123:Eye; D005459:Fluorides / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005740:Gases / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014821:Vitrectomy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005466:Fluorocarbons; D005740:Gases; C042852:perflutren; D005459:Fluorides; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride