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. 2021 Apr 19;1(2):100019.
doi: 10.1016/j.xops.2021.100019. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Prevalence of Vitreoretinal Interface Disorders in an Australian Population: The Blue Mountains Eye Study

Gerald Liew  1   2 , Helen Nguyen  1 , I-Van Ho  1   2   3 , Andrew J White  1 , George Burlutsky  1 , Bamini Gopinath  1   3 , Paul Mitchell  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of Vitreoretinal Interface Disorders in an Australian Population: The Blue Mountains Eye Study

Gerald Liew et al. Ophthalmol Sci. .

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the prevalence, risk factors, and associations of vitreoretinal interface (VRI) abnormalities in a population-based study of older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of cohort study participants.

Participants: Of the 1149 participants (mean age, 76.1 ± 6.9 years) in the 15-year Blue Mountains Eye Study follow-up examination from 2007 through 2009, 905 (1791 eyes) had gradable time-domain or spectral-domain OCT scans of the macula from at least 1 eye.

Methods: OCT scans were graded according to the International Vitreomacular Traction Study Group classification system of VRI abnormalities. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was recorded.

Main outcome measures: Prevalence of VRIs.

Results: Overall, 451 participants showed any VRI abnormality (49.8%). Prevalence of VRI abnormality by person was: vitreomacular adhesion (VMA), 33.6%; vitreomacular traction (VMT), 1.6%; epiretinal membrane (ERM), 21.4%; full-thickness macular hole (FTMH), 0.7%; and lamellar macular hole (LMH), 0.7%. Twenty-two percent of VMAs were focal, and 78% were broad based; 76% of VMTs were focal, and 24% were broad based. All FTMHs observed were large (>400 μm), with mean aperture size of 573 μm (range, 459-771 μm). Increased age was associated with higher ERM and lower VMA prevalence (P < 0.001 for both). Pseudophakia and myopia were associated with ERM (age- and sex-adjusted odds ratios [ORs], 1.48 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01-2.17] and 1.72 [95% CI, 1.05-2.81], respectively). Moderate or severe ERM and FTMH were associated with worse BCVA of 9.2 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters (95% CI, 3.4-15.0 ETDRS letters; P = 0.008) and 26.0 ETDRS letters (95% CI, 10.9-41.1 ETDRS letters; P = 0.001), respectively.

Conclusions: The prevalence of VRI abnormalities is high in older individuals. Epiretinal membrane was associated with increasing age, pseudophakia, and myopia. Epiretinal membrane and FTMH may account for significant visual loss in the affected eye. This study provided useful population-based data on the prevalence of VRI abnormalities in older individuals.

Keywords: BCVA, best-corrected visual acuity; BMES, Blue Mountains Eye Study; CI, confidence interval; D, diopter; ERM, epiretinal membrane; ETDRS, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study; Epiretinal membrane; FTMH, full-thickness macular hole; LMH, lamellar macular hole; NICOLA, Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing; OR, odds ratio; PVD, posterior vitreous detachment; SD, spectral-domain; TD, time-domain; VMA, vitreomacular adhesion; VMT, vitreomacular traction; VRI, vitreoretinal interface; Vitreomacular traction; population.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart showing the included and excluded participants in the Blue Mountains Eye Study fourth follow-up (BMES IV).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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