Vitreous Hemorrhage
What is it?
It is the bleeding within the vitreous body, causing minor or major visual loss.
How is it caused? What are the causes?
The causes of vitreous hemorrhage include:
- Posterior Vitreous detachment
- Vitreous detachment with accompanying retinal tear
- Diabetic retinopathy with neovascularization
- Retinal vein occlusion
- Age-related macular degeneration with hemorrhage
- Trauma
- Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.
- Post-operatively after eye operations (complicated cataract or glaucoma operation, etc.)
Less common causes are:
- Sickle cell anemia with retinopathy
- Macro aneurysm
- Terson syndrome
- Von Hippel Lindau syndrome etc.
What are the symptoms?
- Blurred vision
- Floaters
- Flashes of light
What is the treatment?
Bleeding in the vitreous requires immediate investigation to prevent irreversible vision loss. Complete ophthalmological examination by a specialized ophthalmologist is needed. Sometimes an ophthalmic ultrasound is needed in order to assess the patient.
Treatment can range from simple observation to surgical exploration depending on the cause of the bleeding. Therefore, the correct diagnosis is of the utmost importance. In the case of surgical removal of the hemorrhage, this is usually done by vitrectomy, a method that allows the rapid restoration of vision.
