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Do climatic variables influence the development of posterior vitreous detachment?
  1. R Rahman1,
  2. K Ikram1,
  3. P H Rosen1,
  4. M Cortina-Borja2,
  5. M E Taylor3
  1. 1Oxford Eye Hospital, Oxford, UK
  2. 2Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford UK
  3. 3NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Oxford University Field Laboratory, Wytham, Oxford, UK
  1. Correspondence to: Mr Paul H Rosen, Oxford Eye Hospital, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HE, UK; phrosen{at}compuserve.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.86.7.829

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    Posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) is a common condition after the fifth decade of life.1 Synchisis of the vitreous progresses in proportion to age, creating holes in the posterior hyaloid membrane and allowing PVD to occur.2 The incidence of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment is generally accepted to be season dependent, with a higher incidence in the summer months.3,4 However, there is no evidence that PVD is season dependent. We performed this study to determine whether there is any correlation between ambient temperatures, humidity, or solar radiance on the incidence of PVD.

    Case report

    Patients were selected for this study from the eye casualty database at Oxford Eye Hospital. All patient records, which have been diagnostically coded as acute PVD over a 2 year period, were reviewed. Cases where there was a precipitating cause for PVD such as blunt trauma, retinal vascular disease, diabetic retinopathy, previous surgery, or laser treatment were excluded. Only cases with spontaneous PVD were included in the study.

    We used three environmental variables—mean daily temperatures in degrees centigrade (°C), percentage relative humidity (both averaged over measurements …

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