Vitreous Syneresis

[Boeyes]

I understand that the vitreous detaches over time in pieces.  What is the normal duration once this starts, and what happens once it is completely detached?  Does this lead to retinal detachment?  What is the prognosis for someone with vitreous syneresis?


This discussion is related to detached vitreous.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No    Use Google Images and search "asteroid hyalosis"  There are thousands of floaters in these eyes but they function fine and many "tune out" all those floaters.

JCH MD

[Boeyes]

Thank you so much for your quick reply - much appreciated.  I have been living with and adjusting to floaters, and always living in fear of this next step.  I find daily tasks much more difficult as you must concentrate harder and sometimes the eye actually hurts.  Does there come a point where most people cannot work any longer with VS or perhaps stop driving?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Read the section on vitreous syneresis in Wikipedia as it is too long to type out all the specifics. These are the highlights: The process starts at different ages including in infants and young children, more common after age 40. There is marked variability in how long a posterior vitreous detachment takes to "evolve". In most people the vitgreous does not completely detach and remains attached in some areas usually the vitreous base around the ora serratta. Only a tiny % of people with PVD and vit syn develop RDs. By age 50 about half the population have PVDs by age 70 its 70. In large groups of population RD occurs in about one in 5-9 thousand people.

JCH MD