Laser Exposures in the Maculas of Human Volunteers.

摘要

Patients whose eyes require enucleation for medical reasons were exposed to focused argon laser beams in a regular pattern of locations in the eye, especially in the macula, including the fovea. The power levels were suprathreshold to just produce instantaneous lesions. The ophthalmoscopic appearance of the resultant lesions was correlated with loss of function and with subsequent histological examination. An argon laser lesion in the macula may have greater functional impairment than a comparable ruby laser lesion. In lesions outside the macula the damage is confined to the retinal pigment epithelium and adjacent structures. In markedly suprathreshold lesions the outer segments of the rods were less disturbed than the inner nuclear and plexiform layers. Within the macula there are usually two damage locations separated by unchanged layers of the retina. In the pigment epithelium in which the damage was the same or less than in lesions outside the macula, there was a larger area of damage in the outer plexiform layer. Foveal lesions had greater damage to the fiber layer of Henle (outer plexiform layer) than in adjacent areas of the macula at comparable power levels.