Dawaa Reference

acute

Posterior vitreous detachment

Treatment options, dosing, cautions and Egyptian brands from the shipped Dawaa Reference card.

Evidence status

Checked against the sources named below

Sources3 sources

ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class FD99.04 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Posterior Vitreous Detachment - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK563273/

Verified against1 document
  • No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified date2026-08

Presentation reference

Is it this?

Reference only, to read alongside your own examination.

Symptoms — what the patient reports (3)

  • Flashes are brief, felt in the temporal field, triggered by eye or head movement, and more noticeable in dim lighting.
  • About two-thirds of patients with PVD report blurred vision. [blurred vision]
  • Floaters appear as small mobile specks most visible against a bright background. [floaters]

Signs — what you find (3)

  • The Weiss ring is a glial tissue ring about 1.5 mm across, attached to the hyaloid just in front of the optic disc.
  • Pigment granules and red cells in the anterior vitreous, called the Shafer sign or tobacco dust, suggest an accompanying retinal tear and warrant referral.
  • The detached hyaloid membrane looks like a crumpled, translucent sheet floating in the mid-vitreous.

Tests (4)

  • OCT can detect a shallow PVD that slit-lamp exam and B-scan ultrasound both fail to identify.
  • OCT stage 4 is complete PVD with a prominent Weiss ring visible on slit-lamp exam.
  • On slit-lamp exam, complete PVD with collapse shows a loose, easily detected, fully separated hyaloid membrane.
  • B-scan ultrasound is used to assess the state of the vitreous gel and the extent of detachment.

If not this — what else fits (3)

  • Other causes of flashing lights include a retinal tear or detachment, and migraine with or without aura.
  • Other causes of floaters include vitreous hemorrhage from a retinal tear, detachment, or proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
  • Posterior uveitis syndromes such as multiple evanescent white dot syndrome or birdshot chorioretinitis can also produce flashing lights.

SourceStatPearls "Posterior Vitreous Detachment" - disease-level clinical article

Presentation findings are traced to the source above.

1

NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (RECOGNITION & REFERRAL)

1st line
Adult dose and duration

Posterior vitreous detachment presents with acute onset of floaters or photopsia (flashes). A GP cannot reliably distinguish benign posterior vitreous detachment from an acute retinal tear or detachment on bedside examination; all patients with acute-onset symptoms must undergo same-day dilated ophthalmoscopic examination by an ophthalmologist. Instruct the patient to seek emergency care immediately if a dark curtain, shadow, or peripheral vision loss develops. - Refer

Paediatric dose

Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.

Dose source

No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Why

Posterior vitreous detachment presents with acute onset of floaters or photopsia (flashes). A GP cannot reliably distinguish benign posterior vitreous detachment from an acute retinal tear or detachment on bedside examination; all patients with acute-onset symptoms must undergo same-day dilated ophthalmoscopic examination by an ophthalmologist. Instruct the patient to seek emergency care immediately if a dark curtain, shadow, or peripheral vision loss develops.

Cautions
  • Sudden shower of new floaters with flashes of light, or a curtain/shadow over part of vision — needs same-day ophthalmology assessment to rule out retinal tear or detachment.
  • No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.