Contributor: Gordon K. Klintworth
Posterior vitreous detachment is defined as a separation of the posterior vitreous cortex from the internal limiting membrane of the retina. It  is the most important clinically significant aging change in the vitreous and affects >60% of  persons by the eighth decade. It is more common in eyes with myopia than in eyes with emmetropia and hyperopia and develops at an earlier age. Cataract extraction is a risk factor for posterior vitreous detachment in eyes with myopia.