Prevalence and associations of hyper‐reflective bodies in the posterior vitreous: The Beijing eye study

PURPOSE: To assess prevalence and associations of intra-vitreal hyper-reflective bodies (vHRBs) in the posterior vitreous in a general population. METHODS: Participants of the population-based Beijing Eye Study underwent systemic and ophthalmological examinations. We included into this study a randomly selected group of normal eyes without retinal diseases and a randomly selected group of eyes with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PVC) or central serous choroidopathy (CSC). Using serial optical coherence tomography scans of the posterior fundus region, we searched for vHRBs in the posterior vitreous compartment. RESULTS: The study consisted of 1347 eyes (age: 64.3 ± 9.8 years, range: 50-91 years; axial length: 23.04 ± 1.00 mm, range: 19.39-28.93 mm). vHRB were detected in 314/1347 eyes (23.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 21.1, 25.6), that is, in 137 out of 447 normal eyes (28.9%; 95% CI: 24.8, 33.0), 110/458 eyes with early AMD (24.0%; 95% CI: 20.1, 27.9), 45/278 eyes with intermediate AMD (16.2%; 95% CI: 11.8, 20.5), 3/35 eyes with PCV (8.6%; 95% CI: 0.00, 18.3), and in 19/94 eyes with CSC (20.2%; 95% CI: 11.9, 28.5). In multivariable analysis, higher vHRB prevalence was associated with younger age (OR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.91, 0.95; p < 0.001), shorter axial length (OR: 0.69; 95% CI:0.56, 0.84; p < 0.001), and lower stage of posterior vitreous detachment (OR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.64; p < 0.001). It was independent of AMD stage (p = 0.87), and prevalence of PCV (p = 0.67) and CSC (p = 0.40). Higher amount of vHRBs (multivariable linear regression analysis) correlated with younger age (beta: -0.21; B: -0.02; 95% CI: -0.03, -0.02; p < 0.001), shorter axial length (beta: -0.07; B: -0.09; 95% CI: -0.16, -0.02; p = 0.009) and lower stage of posterior vitreous detachment (beta: -0.15; B: -0.13; 95% CI: -0.19, -0.08; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: vHRBs were detected in one out of four normal eyes of individuals aged 50+ years, in dependence on younger age, shorter axial length and lower degree of posterior vitreous detachment. They were independent of a concurrence of AMD, PCV and CSC.