Posterior Vitreous Detachment
Another natural cause of eye floaters is posterior vitreous detachment or PVD. Normally there are adhesions between the back surface of the vitreous body and the inner layer of the retina and for some reasons such as old ages, myopia and trauma; these adhesions will be released causing vitreous body to detach completely from the retina.
Vitreous will collapse inside the posterior segment of the eye or vitreous cavity and with each eye movement, collapsed vitreous will move, causing eye floaters.
This kind of detachment is normally present in old ages but there are many factors that can cause posterior vitreous detachment to occur at young age such as myopic patient, trauma, intraocular inflammation, trauma, cataract surgery, after YAG laser capsulotomy, diabetic retinopathy and vitreous hemorrhage.
Vitreous separation from the retina usually occurs without any complications and the patients will complain only of floaters which usually disappear after few weeks or months.
Sometimes, the vitreous detachment from the retina is incomplete, in which some parts of the vitreous body remain attached to the retina, causing traction on the retina. This traction will be noticed by the patient as flashes of lights or photopsia and with time this traction can lead to retinal tear or break and the fluid inside the vitreous body can pass under the retina leading to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.
Important Note
Any patient who noticed floaters and/or photopsia for the first time should have complete ocular examination to rule out any incomplete vitreous detachments with traction on the retina.
