About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Retinal detachment can occur as a result of:
- Sagging or shrinkage of the jelly-like vitreous that fills the inside of your eye
- Trauma
- Advanced diabetes
- An inflammatory disorder
How retinal detachment occurs
Retinal detachment can occur when vitreous liquid (vitreous humor) leaks through a retinal hole or tear and accumulates underneath the retina. Small retinal holes or tears can develop where the retina has thinned due to aging or with other retinal disorders. Retinal detachment due to a tear in the retina typically develops when there is a sudden separation of the vitreous from the retina. Less commonly, fluid can leak directly underneath the retina, without a tear or break.
As liquid collects underneath it, the retina can peel away from the underlying layer of blood vessels (choroid). The areas where the retina is detached lose their blood supply and stop functioning, so you lose vision.
Aging-related retinal tears that lead to retinal detachment
As you age, your vitreous humor may change in consistency and shrink or become more liquid. Eventually, the vitreous may sag and separate from the surface of the retina — a common condition called posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), or vitreous collapse.
As the vitreous separates or peels off the retina, it may tug on the retina with enough force to create a retinal tear. Left untreated, the tear can progress to a retinal detachment.
PVD can cause visual symptoms. You may see flashes of sparkling lights (photopsia) when your eyes are closed or when you're in a darkened room. New or different floaters may appear in your field of vision.
- Facts about retinal detachment. National Eye Institute. http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/retinaldetach/retinaldetach.asp. Accessed Oct. 8, 2010.
- Wilkinson CP. Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. In: Yanoff M, ed., et al. Ophthalmology. 3rd ed. Edinburgh, U.K.: Mosby Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/212799885-2/0/1869/0.html. Accessed Oct. 8, 2010.
- Arroyo JG. Retinal detachment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 11, 2010.
- Posterior vitreous detachment, retinal breaks and lattice degeneration. San Francisco, Calif.: American Academy of Ophthalmology. http://one.aao.org/asset.axd?id=99eddbb5-cf3e-4619-a411-887961b738a2. Accessed Oct. 8, 2010.
- Fletcher EC, et al. Retina. In: Riodan-Eva P, et al. Vaughan & Asbury's General Ophthalmology. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=19. Accessed Oct. 8, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on