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Abstract
Nursery observations and animal experimentation have clearly demonstrated a specific toxic effect of oxygen on the immature retinal vessels. In animals having an existing hyaloid structure at birth, oxygen exposure causes an abnormal persistence and apparent proliferation of these vessels. The unique susceptibility of the retinal vessels to oxygen is limited to the retina with an incomplete vasculature; the retina that is fully vascularized is resistant to oxygen damage. Light and electron microscopic observations on the effects of hyperoxia on immature vessels are discussed.