The vitreous condition of healthy white (n = 551) and Japanese (n = 52
8) eyes were reviewed and compared with respect to the prevalence of p
osterior vitreous detachment (PVD) in the two groups. No white or Japa
nese patient 39 years of age or younger had PVD; the prevalence among
those older than 39 increased with age in the fifth through the ninth
decades, ie, respectively, to 4%, 24%, 37%, 59%, and 87% in the whites
, and to 5%, 21%, 43%, 72%, and 82% in the Japanese. In none of these
decades was there any significant difference between the prevalence of
complete or partial PVD in the whites and the Japanese. This finding
is significant because the vitreoretinal relationship influences the d
evelopment and prognoses of the various vitreoretinal disorders.