Effect of vitreous detachment on vitreous fluorophotometry

Twenty eyes of 17 normal subjects with or without posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) were examined to investigate the influence of various types of PVD on vitreous fluorophotometric readings. Biomicroscopic examinations of the vitreous body were performed with an El Bayadi - Kajiura preset lens, and the findings were classified according to the extent of vitreous detachment and the position of the posterior hyaloid membrane when the eye was stationary. Equivalent fluorescein concentration profiles along various directions in the vitreous cavity were obtained with vitreous fluorophotometry. The degree of PVD significantly affected the measurements. Close to the retina, fluorescein concentrations were significantly higher when the subhyaloid space was sampled than when the vitreous gel was sampled. Our findings have implications for vitreous fluorophotometric assessment of the permeability of the blood-retinal barrier.