Utility Values Associated With Vitreous Floaters

Ageing of the vitreous: From acute onset floaters and flashes to retinal detachment

“…This event interferes with important activities of daily life such as reading, driving and performing near work (Yonemoto et al, 1994). Wagle et al (2011) analyzed health-related quality-of-life in patients with floaters and found significant negative impact. Also Sebag et al (2014) showed that vitreous floaters have impact on vision by markedly lowering contrast sensitivity function up to 67%.…”

“…In most cases, vitreous opacities occur as a result of degenerative changes in the vitreous body. Vitreous liquefaction (synchisis senilis) provokes condensation of the vitreous collagen fibers and posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) (Wagle et al, 2011). More dramatic condition is an acute onset of floaters, the most common cause of which is PVD, having a prevalence of 24% among adults aged 50-59 years and 87% in those over 80 years old (Hikichi et al, 1995).…”

Degradation of Contrast Sensitivity Function Following Posterior Vitreous Detachment

“…However, in some patients there can be bothersome floaters that negatively impact quality of life. 7,8,14 Vision, in particular visual acuity 19 , straylight glare 20 , and contrast sensitivity function (CSF) 9, 10, 14 can be considerably affected. This controlled, prospective study found that PVD can be associated with significant reduction in CSF.…”

“…While many patients adapt, some patients are very bothered by PVD-induced floaters, even in the absence of hemorrhage and inflammation. [7][8][9] Although previous studies 9, 10 have shown that contrast sensitivity function (CSF) is abnormal in patients with vitreous floaters, those studies compared floater patients with nonfloater controls. No previous studies have prospectively documented changes in a group of individuals who served as their own controls.…”

Vitrectomy for primary symptomatic vitreous opacities: an evidence-based review

“…Generally vitreous floaters are of little clinical significance with minimal impact on the quality of vision of patients, but there is a small population of patients with debilitating floaters greatly affecting their quality of life. 1 We define symptomatic vitreous opacities (SVO) as floaters severe enough to cause symptoms for a minimum time period of 3 months, and which cause enough visual disturbance for the patient to explore therapeutic options. The duration of 3 months is enough to distinguish SVO from acute posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) 'floaters', which generally settle in this time period, and indicates the persistence of these vitreous opacities as well as the failure of patients to adapt to them.…”