Diagnosis of vitreoretinal adhesions in macular disease with optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE: To compare the relative incidence of vitreoretinal adhesions associated with partial vitreous separation within the macula diagnosed with optical coherence tomography (OCT) with that of those diagnosed with biomicroscopy.

METHODS

The authors obtained linear cross-sectional retinal images using OCT in patients with selected macular diseases. Additional studies included biomicroscopy, fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and B-scan ultrasonography.

RESULTS

Optical coherence tomography was performed on 132 eyes of 119 patients. Vitreoretinal adhesions within the macula were identified using OCT in 39 eyes (30%) with the following diagnoses: idiopathic epiretinal membrane (n = 13), diabetic retinopathy (n = 7), idiopathic macular hole (n = 7), cystoid macular edema (n = 7), and vitreomacular traction syndrome (n = 5). Biomicroscopy identified vitreoretinal adhesions in only 11 eyes (8%). Two distinct vitreoretinal adhesion patterns were identified with OCT, each associated with partial separation of the posterior hyaloid face: focal (n = 25) and multifocal (n = 14).

CONCLUSIONS

Optical coherence tomography is more sensitive than biomicroscopy in identifying vitreoretinal adhesions associated with macular disease.