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April 18, 2026

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

Key Points

This research aims to determine the prevalence and associations of hyper-reflective bodies in the posterior vitreous of a general population.
Conducted a population-based study with systemic and ophthalmological examinations.
Included a random selection of normal eyes and eyes with age-related macular degeneration, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, and central serous choroidopathy.
Utilized serial optical coherence tomography scans to identify hyper-reflective bodies.
Hyper-reflective bodies detected in 23.3% of eyes examined (314 out of 1347).
Higher prevalence correlated with younger age and shorter axial length.
Distribution of hyper-reflective bodies varied across different ocular conditions, independent of AMD, PCV, and CSC stage.

Abstract

Abstract 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.

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Cite This Study

Jonas et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69e31fcb40886becb653eeda https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.70139

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