PLoS ONE (Jan 2020)

Posterior vitreous detachment and macular microvasculature in the elderly.

  • Taku Toyama,
  • Hisashi Kawai,
  • Tomoyasu Shiraya,
  • Fumiyuki Araki,
  • Koichiro Sugimoto,
  • Yohei Hashimoto,
  • Satoshi Kato,
  • Jiro Numaga,
  • Yutaka Watanabe,
  • Hirohiko Hirano,
  • Yoshinori Fujiwara,
  • Kazushige Ihara,
  • Hunkyung Kim,
  • Shuichi Obuchi,
  • Takashi Ueta

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231351
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 4
p. e0231351

Abstract

Read online

PURPOSE:To investigate the association between different stages of posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and macular microvasculature in the elderly. METHODS:Swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography, and color fundus images of 490 eyes without retinal pathologies of 322 participants aged ≥65 years were evaluated. PVD was classified using enhanced vitreous visualization mode as no apparent PVD (stage 0/1), vitreous adhesions at the fovea and optic disc (stage 2), adhesion at the optic disc (stage 3), or complete PVD (stage 4). Microvascular parameters, including foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and vessel density (VD), were analyzed for their associations with complete PVD. Additionally, the association between PVD and central retinal thickness (CRT) was also addressed. RESULTS:Overall, 80, 31, 31, and 349 eyes were categorized into stages 0/1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Using multivariate mixed-effects model, the mean superficial FAZ area was smaller in stage 4 compared with stages 0-3 (0.29 vs. 0.32 mm2; P = 0.014), and the mean superficial VD was lower in stage 4 compared with stages 0-3 (34.96% vs. 35.24%; P = 0.0089). However, PVD was not significantly associated with deep macular microvascular parameters or CRT. CONCLUSIONS:Complete PVD was associated with smaller FAZ area and lower VD in superficial macular microvasculature, while it was not associated with central retinal thickness.