Importance of the vitreous in young diabetics with macular edema

The authors assessed retrospectively the clinical records of 80 patients (137 eyes) with diabetic retinopathy who were 50 years of age or younger and who had undergone a vitreous examination. The group comprised 53 patients (91 eyes) with macular edema and 27 patients (46 eyes) without macular edema. Vitreous studies using the El Bayadi-Kajiura lens determined whether the posterior vitreous was attached to the retina in the macula. Forty (42.1%) of 91 eyes in the edema group and none (0%) of the 46 eyes in the nonedema group had a detached posterior vitreous. This difference was statistically significant, indicating that young diabetic patients with macular edema have a significantly higher rate of posterior vitreous detachment than those without macular edema.