Vitrectomy when asteroid hyalosis prevents laser photocoagulation

Asteroid hyalosis is a relatively common disorder of the vitreous that rarely causes visual impairment. However, funduscopic examination and laser photocoagulation can be difficult because of reflections off the asteroid bodies. Although vitrectomy is rarely indicated for impaired visual acuity, we report three cases in which pars plana vitrectomy was necessary to permit required retinal laser photocoagulation. In two patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and a third patient with subretinal neovascularization marked asteroid hyalosis precluded photocoagulation by standard techniques.