Light scatter causes the grayness of detached retinas: implications for vision loss in retinal detachment.

Objective: To investigate the cause of the gray appearance of the detached retina.

Methods: The effects of ex vivo bovine retinas and Scotch (3M, Minneapolis, Minn) tape on light scattering were predicted based on mathematical modeling and examined empirically on an optical bench. Images were collected with a CCD [charged-coupling device] camera connected to a microcomputer with an image grabber.