Diagnosis of vitreoretinal adhesions in macular disease with optical coherence tomography

Purpose: To compare the relative incidence of vitreoretinal adhesions associated with partial vitreous separation within the macula diagnosed with optical coherence tomography (OCT) with that of those diagnosed with biomicroscopy. \ Methods: The authors obtained linear cross-sectional retinal images using OCT in patients with selected macular diseases. Additional studies included biomicroscopy, fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and B-scan ultrasonography. Results: Optical coherence tomography was performed on 132 eyes of 119 patients. Vitreoretinal adhesions within the macula were identified using OCT in 39 eyes (30%) with the following diagnoses: idiopathic epiretinal membrane (n = 13), diabetic retinopathy (n = 7), idiopathic macular hole (n = 7), cystoid macular edema (n = 7), and vitreomacular traction syndrome (n = 5). Biomicroscopy identified vitreoretinal adhesions in only 11 eyes(8%). Two distinct vitreoretinal adhesion patterns were identified with OCT, each associated with partial separation of the posterior hyaloid face: focal (n = 25) and multifocal (n = 14). Conclusions: Optical coherence tomography is more sensitive than biomicroscopy in identifying vitreoretinal adhesions associated with macular disease.