Drs Kalenak and Pulido1 reported a case in the May issue of the Archives on closure of a postsurgical cyclodialysis cleft by pars plana vitrectomy. This was followed by gas-fluid exchange with SF6, a procedure they call "pneumatic cyclopexy."
It is difficult to imagine why they selected pars plana vitrectomy and gas injection to close a cyclodialysis cleft. Vitrectomy has no effect on a cleft. Gas will temporarily tamponade a ciliary body against the sclera, but the cleft will not necessarily be closed, and when the gas absorbs, the ciliary body will probably detach again.
Their procedure appears to have worked, either because they also applied cyclocryopexy, which is known to close clefts, or because the gas bubble plastered the iris up against the cornea, causing "an area of broad peripheral anterior synechia" over the cleft.1 Synechia formation is an undesirable method to close a cleft, because it