Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May;34(5):825-834.
doi: 10.1038/s41433-020-0825-0. Epub 2020 Apr 20.

Management of vitreous floaters: an international survey the European VitreoRetinal Society Floaters study report

Ece Ozdemir Zeydanli  1 , Barbara Parolini  2 , Sengul Ozdek  3 , Silvia Bopp  4 , Ron A Adelman  5 , Ferenc Kuhn  6 , Giampaolo Gini  7 , Ahmed B Sallam  8 , Nur Aksakal  9 ; EVRS Floaters Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Management of vitreous floaters: an international survey the European VitreoRetinal Society Floaters study report

Ece Ozdemir Zeydanli et al. Eye (Lond). 2020 May.

Abstract

Background/objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pars plana vitrectomy for symptomatic floaters.

Subjects/methods: Forty-eight vitreoretinal surgeons from 16 countries provided information on 581 eyes who underwent vitrectomy for floaters in this retrospective survey study conducted by European VitreoRetinal Society. Percentage symptomatic improvement, incidence of retinal tears/detachment and post-vitrectomy cataract surgery, and the factors associated with satisfaction and complications were investigated.

Results: Ninety-two percent were satisfied with the results, with 86.3% reporting complete resolution of daily-life symptoms. Overall satisfaction was lower in patients with smaller vitreous opacities at presentation (OR:0.4). Iatrogenic retinal breaks occurred in 29 eyes (5%). Core vitrectomy and cut rates of 1500-4000 or >4000 cuts/min were associated with lower risk of retinal breaks than complete vitrectomy (OR:0.05) and cut rates < 1500 cuts/min (OR: 0.03, 0.12, respectively). Fourteen eyes (2.4%) developed retinal detachment at a median of 3 months; and 84 (48.6%) developed cataract at a median of 16 months post-vitrectomy.

Conclusions: Pars plana vitrectomy resulted in high patient satisfaction with relatively low rate of severe complications in a large group of patients. The procedure may be safer when core vitrectomy and cut rates > 1500 cuts/min are favoured. Proper patient selection and informed consent are the most important aspects of surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Influence of floaters on everyday life, professional life and psychological condition of the patients before and after the operation.
Preoperative (left column) and postoperative (right column) discomfort levels were reported by 99% and 98% of the patients, respectively. After vitrectomy, 86.3% of the patients were completely cured from their troublesome floaters affecting everyday life (upper row); 92% of the patients reported complete resolution of symptoms affecting professional life (middle row); and 91% reported complete resolution of psychological symptoms (lower row).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tozer K, Johnson M, Sebag J. Vitreous aging and posterior vitreous detachment. In: Sebag J, editors. Vitreous—in health and disease. New York: Springer-Verlag; 2014. p. 131–50.
    1. Gale J, Ikuno Y. Myopic vitreopathy. In: Sebag J, editors. Vitreous—in health and disease. New York: Springer-Verlag; 2014. p. 113–29.
    1. Roufail ED, Polkinghorne P. Vitreous floaters. Compr Ophthalmol Update. 2006;7:171–7. - PubMed
    1. Henry CR, Smiddy WE, Flynn HW., Jr Pars plana vitrectomy for vitreous floaters: is there such a thing as minimally invasive vitreoretinal surgery? Retina. 2014;34:1043–5. doi: 10.1097/IAE.0000000000000124. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wagle AM, Lim WY, Yap TP, Neelam K, Au Eong KG. Utility values associated with vitreous floaters. Am J Ophthalmol. 2011;152:60–5 e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2011.01.026. - DOI - PubMed