Asteroid hyalosis: posterior vitreous detachment and diabetic retinopathy.

The vitreoretinal relationship in 59 eyes with asteroid bodies was studied by biomicroscopy with the El Bayadi-Kajiura lens. Complete posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) occurred less often in eyes with asteroid bodies than in control eyes (P less than .05), and partial PVD occurred more often than in control eyes (P less than .01). In eyes with asteroid bodies after the age of 70 years, the prevalence of PVD, either complete or partial, was lower than in age-matched control eyes (P less than .01), and the prevalence of liquefaction (19%) was lower than has been reported in controls. Of eight eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and asteroid bodies, only one showed partial PVD. Patients who were diabetic and who had asteroid bodies were significantly younger than patients without diabetes with asteroid hyalosis (P less than .01). Our data suggest that the presence of asteroid bodies may arrest the process of vitreous collapse or contraction and that diabetes might influence the development of asteroid hyalosis.