Detached retina: Nursing

Retinal detachment occurs when the neurosensory layer of the retina is separated from the underlying retinal pigment epithelium, resulting in fluid accumulation between the two layers.

Okay, but first, a bit of physiology. The eye is made up of three major layers. There's a fibrous outer layer, which contains the cornea and sclera. The middle vascular layer is called uvea and consists of the iris, pupil, choroid, and ciliary body. Finally, the neural layer consists of the retina, with its own outer pigmented layer, and an inner neural layer that’s composed of photoreceptor cells, which convert light into neural signals that travel via the optic nerve to the brain for visual processing.

Now, there’s two kinds of photoreceptors: rods, which are great for seeing in low light conditions but only offer black and white vision; and cones, which are less sensitive but can detect different colors. So, there’s an oval spot in the middle of the posterior retina, called the macula, that has a depressed spot called the fovea at its center. The fovea contains the highest concentration of cones and is the part of the retina that offers the highest visual acuity.

Now, if we take a closer look at a cross-section of an eye, we can see that it’s split into three different chambers: anterior, posterior, and vitreous. The anterior chamber includes the area from the cornea to the iris. The posterior chamber is a really narrow space between the iris and the lens. Finally, the much larger vitreous chamber includes the space between the lens and the back of the eye. Now, both the anterior and posterior chambers are filled with a clear watery fluid called aqueous humor, while the vitreous chamber is filled with a clear but thicker fluid called vitreous humor.