Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is one of the major causes of failure in retinal detachment surgery. To prevent PVR, it is necessary to determine factors predisposing its development. In primary PVR, large retinal tears, long duration of retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhages, aphakia and choroidal detachment were demonstrated as clinical risk factors for PVR. In postoperative PVR, it was revealed that large breaks, pre-and postoperative choroidal detachment, minor intra-or postoperative hemorrhages, signs of uveitis, extensive retinal detachment, vitrectomy, cryopexy, air injection and preoperative PVR were risk factors for PVR by multivariate analysis. Almost all risk factors for PVR are associated with intravitreal dispersion of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells or breakdown of the blood-ocular barrier which are prerequisite to development of PVR. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.