# What is a Vitreous Disorder?

Source page: https://www.kudretgozistanbul.com/en/blog/eye-diseases/what-is-a-vitreous-disorder

**Author:** Kudret Eye İstanbul | **Medical Approval:** Op. Dr. Mehmet Ali Özdil | **Date:** 2026-09-16

> **Summary:** The vitreous is the clear, gel-like fluid filling the eyeball between the lens and the retina. With age it liquefies and can separate from the retina, causing floaters and sometimes complications such as retinal tears, retinal detachment, macular problems or vitreous haemorrhage. Treatment depends on the type of disorder.

## Quick Facts
- **Share of the eye:** The vitreous makes up eighty per cent of the human eye
- **Composition:** Ninety-nine per cent water
- **Posterior vitreous detachment:** Found in fifty-three per cent of people over fifty, sixty-six per cent at sixty-five and over
- **Warning signs:** Flashes, floating objects, pain: see an ophthalmologist at once

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## What is the Vitreous?
From the Latin for glassy. The rest besides water is collagen fibrils (type 2 dominant, with types 5, 9 and 11), salt, sugar and non-collagen proteins. It contains no blood vessels, which keeps it transparent. It is attached to the retina and differs from the aqueous humour between the cornea and the lens.

## Causes of Vitreous Deterioration
- Age (most common): liquefaction; structural changes in twenty-five per cent of people between forty and fifty and up to sixty-two per cent between eighty and ninety.
- Diabetes (bleeding into the vitreous), advanced myopia, blows to the eye, genetic predisposition, previous eye operations.
- Rearranged collagen can solidify, blocking light and causing floaters.

## Vitreous Disorders
- **Vitreous degeneration:** Normal with age; synchysis (liquefaction, not felt by the patient) and syneresis (opaque solidification causing floaters and vision difficulty).
- **Vitreous detachment (posterior hyaloid separation):** After forty the vitreous shrinks and separates from the retina; normal with age but can lead to retinal detachment, vitreomacular traction, retinal tears and vitreous haemorrhage.
- **Asteroid hyalosis:** Cream and golden spherical bodies build up in the vitreous; around one per cent, usually one eye, rarely noticed by patients but can hinder examination of the eye.
- **Macular hole:** A hole in the centre of the macula, seriously affecting vision.
- **Vitreomacular traction syndrome:** The separating vitreous pulls on the macula.
- **Vitreous haemorrhage:** Bleeding into the vitreous, usually diabetes related. A few weeks to a few months are allowed for it to clear; otherwise vitrectomy. With a retinal tear, surgery may be done directly.
- **Retinal detachment:** Often starts with a tear as the vitreous pulls away; fluid passes under the retina. An early tear can often be treated with laser; a detachment generally needs surgery.

## Treatment
- The type of disorder must be established first; the doctor decides the treatment.
- Age-related changes such as floaters often need no treatment; when vision is seriously affected, laser or vitrectomy can be considered.

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## References
- Posterior Vitreous Detachment, EyeWiki (AAO)
- Vitreous Hemorrhage, EyeWiki (AAO)
- Floaters, NEI