Vitreous Opacity Vitrectomy (VOV): Safest Possible Removal of “Floaters”

Floater Stories: Assessing the Potential Benefits of Vitrectomy

“…1,2 Why were only seven "floater vitrectomy" articles published during the next eight years, while during the same period over seven hundred articles were published on similarly elective vitrectomy for macular pucker? 3 And eight years after the American Society of Retina Specialists chose our floater vitrectomy video for the 2007 Buckler award (the first time an ophthalmic society acknowledged floater vitrectomy as reasonable), 4 why did 75% of surveyed retina specialists still respond that they were unlikely to perform floater vitrectomy? 5 In order of frequency, these physicians' answers were 1) the risks of vitrectomy, 2) unrealistic patient expectations, and 3) fear of ridicule by colleagues.…”

“…7 But much more often they were normal people who had been rejected for treatment elsewhere, likely because between floaters they still measured "20/20" on standard visual acuity testing. 3,4 They had commonly been told, "You don't have a problem", or "The floaters will go away", or "You'll get used to them", or "Nothing can be done", or "There's an operation but it's too risky". And they were desperate not to live the remainder of their lives dodging continual visual obscurations caused by vitreous opacities, daylight to dark.…”

“…Why were only seven “floater vitrectomy” articles published during the next eight years, while during the same period over seven hundred articles were published on similarly elective vitrectomy for macular pucker? 3 …”

“…In 2022, I published, “Vitreous Opacity Vitrectomy (VOV): Safest Possible Removal of “Floaters”. 3 The methods described therein can now reduce the risks of elective vitrectomy to ~1% in patients over age 60 with posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), who constitute over 90% of presenting cases. This is similar to the risks of cataract extraction (CE), now enabling treatment of substantial SVO with an acceptably low complication rate.…”

“…In a recent series of 100 consecutive cases (mean age 66 years), 3 70 eyes were pseudophakic, 15 eyes underwent combined VOV/CE, and 13 eyes underwent CE within two years. PVD was present in 95% of eyes, making VOV inherently safer than in younger eyes with persistent vitreoretinal attachment.…”