Purpose
A prospective, cross-sectional study was performed to determine the prevalence of vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) in a diverse group of subjects over 40 years of age. Secondary analysis included correlation between VMA and gender, ethnicity, and refractive error.
Methods
Preliminary findings for this study include data from a subset of 1475 eyes of 760 subjects (60.3% females) with a mean age of 57 years (range 40-91; SD 9.4). The refractive status indicated that 6.98% were emmetropes, 32% were myopes, and 61% were hyperopes. For subjects reporting ethnicity, 45.7% were white, 35.6% were black, 12.5% were Hispanic, 6.2% were Asian and/or mixed decent. Subjects were classified into groups by 10-year age categories (e.g., 40-49 years). A comprehensive eye examination, including medical history, amsler grid testing, ophthalmoscopy and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) was performed on each subject. The status of the posterior vitreoretinal interface was evaluated by a team of independent, masked readers, who determined the presence or absence of VMA on SD-OCT. Classification was done according to the rubric established by “The International Vitreomacular Traction Study (IVTS) Group.”
Results
Vitreomacular adhesion was present in 40.6% of eyes. When comparing age categories, VMA was most prevalent in the 50-59 year old age group (35.56%). With advancing age, the percentage of patients with VMA decreases (3.34% in patients 80-95 years of age). Prevalence of VMA was associated with ethnicity, as patients of Afro-American descent were less likely to have VMA than Caucasians (p=0.0094). Neither myopic or hyperopic (p=0.2819) refractive error nor gender (p=0.145) seemed to play a significant role in the prevalence of VMA. Data collection is ongoing to increase the sample size, especially in eyes with various maculopathies; those findings will also be analyzed and presented.
Conclusions
Vitreomacular adhesion was present in more than a third of eyes that represented a wide range of demographic and ocular characteristics. Patients who were of older age and/or Afro-American descent were significantly less likely to have VMA.