correlation between presence of pigment granules in the vitreous and retinal breaks in patients with acute symptomatic posterior vitreous detachment

purpose:  to evaluate the significance of the presence of pigment granules in  the anterior  vitreous as a reliable indicator of retinal breaks in patients with acute symptomatic posterior vitreous detachment  (pvd) . methods: this cross sectional study included 209 phakic patients with acute symptomatic pvd. the patients underwent anterior vitreous examination and fundoscopy. patients with diabetic retinopathy, intraocular hemorrhage, intraoacular inflammation, previous ocular surgery, and ocular trauma were not included. the role of age, sex, floaters or flashing, presence of pigment in the vitreous and retinal break were assessed. result: the study was performed on 209 patients including 85 males and 124 females. mean age was 59.18 years (range, 33-72 years). thirty patients (14.3%) were found to have an associated retinal break, 27 of which also had pigment in the vitreous (90%). pvd symptoms were floaters in 44%, floaters & flashing in 41.2%, and flashing in 14.8%. symptoms in patients who had retinal breaks were floaters in 60%, floaters & flashing in 36.7%, and flashing in 3.3%. conclusion: presence of pigment granules in the vitreous is a reliable indicator of retinal breaks in association with an acute pvd. floaters were the most common presenting symptom in patients with retinal breaks.