Sudden onset of floaters and OCT

[tinacart]

Hello:

I've had numerous floaters since a traffic accident a decade ago.  But last month, I spontaneously noticed flashing lights and a very, very prominent, long, dark strand that hangs from the top of my left eye.  It impedes virtually everything I do with sight:  driving, working on the computer, watching TV, etc.  Dart my eyes back and forth and the thing  just returns back to its original position, dangling there like a torn, black wispy letter "J."

The doctors suspected a vitreous detachment, and two out of three doctors are calling it that after scoping around and pressing on the outside of my eye, but the third doctor performed an OCT and said it was still firmly attached (I'm assuming at the base, I don't believe he scanned the whole circumference of the eye).


If it is part of the PVD process, how long will this take to play out?  Weeks?  Months?  Years?


Am I a candidate for YAG or vitrectomy surgery if it's a major case and endangers my driving?   I've had doctors say that they "settle to the bottom" or "you'll get used to it"  but that's really not true for the large ones.  It would only apply to those faint, opaque floaters we all had as kids.

[JohnHaganMD]

An OCT does not see but a small part of the vitreous and can only tell if attached/detached around the optic nerve or macula. You are NOT a candidate for vitrectomy which causes cataracts, and has a whole host or risks and is normally not covered by insurance. You can go to home page (on the R side of this page under Recent Activity click on the active blue link and you will go to my home page. Look under blog postings (about 38)  scroll through them. Several informative articles on floaters, vitrectomies, etc.   A PVD usually is no longer active after half a year or so but that doesn't mean the floaters go away.