VITRECTOMY FOR PROLIFERATIVE DIABETIC-RETINOPATHY WITH ASTEROID HYALOSIS

Purpose: To characterize the clinical features of proliferative diabet ic retinopathy (PDR) with asteroid hyalosis treated by pars plana vitr ectomy. Methods: Vitrectomy was performed in 26 eyes with PDR accompan ied by asteroid hyalosis (7 eyes with vitreous hemorrhage, 6 eyes with tractional retinal detachment with vitreous hemorrhage, and 13 eyes w ith tractional retinal detachment without vitreous hemorrhage). We obs erved the occurrence of posterior vitreous detachment intraoperatively and evaluated the clinical characteristics retrospectively. Results: in 24 eyes, posterior vitreous detachment was slight, necessitating ar tificial detachment. Of the 26 eyes, 20 experienced iatrogenic retinal breaks and 6 (23%) experienced postoperative retinal detachment due t o iatrogenic breaks. Three cases worsened to anterior proliferative vi treoretinopathy and retinal reattachment could not be achieved. Conclu sions: In vitrectomy for PDR with asteroid hyalosis, and in cases of s imple vitreous hemorrhage, surgery should be performed with full under standing of the anatomic characteristics. Notably, if posterior Vitreo us detachment is not present, the occurrence of iatrogenic retinal bre aks is more likely.