In Reply.
—In his letter Dr Carim notes that in the April 1989 issue of the Archives, we had erroneously stated that the use of large volumes of air in pneumatic retinopexy might result in a higher incidence of retinal breaks as compared with smaller volumes of expansile gases. In that correspondence, we suggested that smaller volumes of intraocular gas result in less vitreous displacement immediately after injection. Because of other issues related to intraocular gas volume, we wish to clarify this issue further in regard to the selection of appropriate intraocular gases for use in pneumatic retinopexy.In his "Air Injection Pneumatic Retinopexy" presentation at the Pneumatic Retinopexy Symposium in San Diego, Calif, in August 1988, Dr Carim stated that he managed patients with cryotherapy and injection of filtered room air. Initially, room air injections were undertaken with a total volume of 1 mL, requiring paracentesis in all cases.