Posterior Vitreous detachment PVD

Posterior Vitreous Detachment (P.V.D.)

This a common degenerative change which occurs in one or both eyes of most people after middle age. In can be associated with trauma.

Everybody has jelly like fluid filling the posterior cavity of both eyes. This is called the vitreous humour. In a PVD this jelly has shrunken and dislodged forwards in the eye. As the jelly pulls off it stimulates the retina and causes flashes to be seen.

The retina lines the back of the eye like a tiny curved cinema screen and collects visual images to send to the brain. Thickenings and debris in the jelly cast shadows on the retina and are seen as floating shapes, or a cobweb in the vision.

What Happens Next?

A PVD itself is harmless. The flashes stop with time and usually the occasional floater remains. Floaters become less obvious as the months go by, particularly if your spectacles are updated. However, you should always seek a full dilated eye examination at your first symptoms since very occasionally the jelly pulls a hole in the retina. This is more serious and can cause bleeding or a retinal detachment. Retinal detachments are treated urgently to prevent visual loss.

How do I Recognise a Retinal Detatchment?

If you have a retinal detachment you may notice:

New floaters
Increased floaters
Increased flashing lights
Black persistent shadows at the edges of vision in one eye
The impression of a rising or falling curtain
Distortion
Sudden drops in vision within 24 hours

If any of the above occur you are advised to seek further advice urgently.

Christopher Kerr FSMC, FBOA, FAAO, FC.Optom. Cert. in Ocular Therapeutics (City University)

Combines teaching and research with private practice. Clinical consultant to major industrial and contact lens companies, Health Authorities and many professional bodies. Chairman, Croydon Local Optometric Committee, President British contact Lens Association and previously Senior Optometrist and Director of Contact Lens Services at Mayday University Hospital. Editor: Contact Lens Yearbook. International speaker, broadcaster and author on general optometric and contact lens-related topics. Mayday Healthcare Trust accredited paediatric optometrist.

You can read a recent lecture by given by Christopher at the The Royal Society of Medicine here.

Christopher Kerr & Associates Tel: 020 8688 5076 / 020 8681 2008 Fax: 020 8688 8005
37 LONDON ROAD, WEST CROYDON, CR0 2RE

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