Successful vitrectomy for eye floaters treatment is available at VMR Institute for Vitreous Macular Retina.
Floaters are opacities in the vitreous body that appear as “hair-like,” “fly,-Like” grey structures that move with eye movement and interfere with vision.
The most common cause of floaters is aging. The second most common cause of floaters is myopia (near-sightedness). Other causes include asteroid hyalosis or old blood – though both are less common.
Most of the floaters that we remove at VMR Institute are due to a PVD, or posterior vitreous detachment. A PVD is a normal event and happens as we get older.
New Floaters Require Eye Exam
Retinal tears can sometimes occur after the onset of a new PVD. The usual symptoms of flashes and floaters can be frightening. We recommend every patient who develops new flashes or floaters be examined for new retinal tears or retinal detachment.
Retinal tears can lead to retinal detachment. Following successful treatment of retinal tears with laser or cryotherapy, floaters can increase.
Floaters, by themselves, are not dangerous. Care must be taken to ensure that the floaters are not related to a retinal tear, detachment, or another eye disease. In the absence of disease, floaters are benign.
Effects of Floaters on Vision
Studies have shown that some patients perceive floaters as a disease that severely impacts their quality of life. These patients have compared their floaters to more severe diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. We have discovered that floaters induce a significant reduction in contrast sensitivity, the ability to see shades of gray. This explains why patients with floaters are so unhappy and why they become extremely happy when we cure their floaters.
What Is the Best Eye Floaters Treatment?
Surgery to excise vitreous opacities (floater vitrectomy) is proven to be a safe and effective way to get rid of floaters.
This operation has been used for more than 50 years to treat a variety of eye diseases all around the world. Recent advances in surgical instruments along with a honed technique have allowed us to develop a sutureless operation that takes less than 10 minutes.
Our vitrectomy patients are not hospitalized for this procedure, which is performed using local anesthesia. Using this minimally invasive technique, allows for the eye to heal within a few weeks.
Complications of Vitrectomy for Floaters
Complications of vitrectomy include infection, bleeding and retinal detachments. In nearly 300 cases, the were no infections, only 2 cases of bleeding that cleared spontaneously, and only 4 cases of retinal detachment that were repaired successfully.
Chronic complications are cataract. In the past this occurred in 80% of cases. Our operation was designed to prevent cataracts. After an average of 3 years, only 8% of our patients under the age of 50 had cataract surgery, while over the age of 60 this occurred in 48%.
While YAG laser cannot be used for floaters close to the retina, many patients can benefit from YAG Laser Vitreolysis (YLV) and avoid vitrectomy surgery. Our recent experience has shown improvements in contrast sensitivity (32%) and visual quality-of-life (27%), many times after only a single laser treatment. These results were recently presented by Dr. Sebag at ARVO, the largest eye research meeting in the world.
