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FloatersAka: Entopsias

See Also
1. Light Flashes (Photopsias)
Epidemiology
1. Common over age 35 years
Pathophysiology
1. Detachment of vitreous base
Symptoms
1. Fine dots or strings in visual field
2. Cobwebs, clouds or strings in visual field
Differential Diagnosis
1. Retinal Detachment (abrupt and severe floater onset)
2. Posterior Vitreous Detachment
  1. Risk for Retinal Detachment
3. Diabetic Retinopathy
4. Intraocular hemorrhage
5. Uveitis
Management
1. Ophthalmology to evaluate differential diagnosis
  1. Patient should be seen within one week of onset
2. Refer especially high-risk groups
  1. Near-sighted
  2. Diabetes Mellitus
  3. Previous retinal disease
References
1. Noble (2001) Primary Care Medicine, p. 1701
2. Gariano (2004) Am Fam Physician 69:1691

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 5/10/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.