Flying mosquito syndrome is one of the most common eye conditions. Many people report having dark spots or shadows fluttering in front of their eyes, sometimes more or less like mosquitoes, sometimes like drizzle, circles, clouds, amoebas or spiders, especially on well-lit, monochromatic backgrounds. Most mosquitoes do not cause eye damage, but a small percentage can be a warning sign of some serious eye diseases, and timely laser treatment is the best way to treat retinal tears and diabetic eyes. This issue will give a detailed description of mosquitoes.
How do mosquitoes form?
Flying mosquitoes are produced by floaters and clouding within the vitreous of the eye. These floaters stay in the vitreous body, light will shine on it to form a shadow, which is also known as mosquitoes. These mosquitoes vary, depending mainly on the size and shape of the suspended matter. For example, some people see a large number of small raindrops like flying mosquitoes, which is mostly a symptom of vitreous hemorrhage. The drizzle seen is the blood cells suspended in the vitreous body.
There are benign and malignant mosquitoes.
Benign mosquitoes
Most of the flying mosquitoes are benign, benign flying mosquitoes, also known as physiological flying mosquitoes, basically harmless to the eye, including the following two categories.
1, before the birth of the fetus, the vitreous humor in the eye is full of blood vessels. These blood vessels are usually absorbed naturally before the birth of the fetus. If not completely absorbed, the blood vessels remain in the vitreous body, there will be flying mosquitoes.
2, with age, the vitreous body will gradually degenerate, appear condensation and liquefaction. Some of the fibers in the vitreous body in the process of liquefaction polymerized into flocculent, filamentous floating material, suspended in the vitreous body, the formation of flying mosquitoes.
Malignant mosquitoes
Malignant mosquitoes can be a warning sign of a number of serious eye diseases, including: (1) posterior vitreous detachment and other causes of retinal tears and detachment. (2) Diabetic eyes leading to vitreous hemorrhage and. (3) Uveitis, etc.
Posterior vitreous detachment
Overall, more than 65% of elderly people over the age of 65 have posterior vitreous detachment. When 50% or more of the vitreous body is liquefied, the entire vitreous body will shrink inward like a deflated ball, and the part of the vitreous body originally attached to the retina will detach. Some patients do not have any symptoms at all, but many patients may suddenly see circular or curved black shadows moving in front of their eyes, like mosquitoes flying around in front of their eyes, and some patients may see flying mosquitoes and flashing lights at the same time.
Posterior vitreous detachment can generally be treated without causing retinal tears, but less than 5% of patients will have complications such as retinal vascular tears or retinal tears, and retinal tears can lead to retinal detachment if not treated in time.
Retinal Tear
Posterior vitreous detachment can lead to retinal tears and complications such as retinal vascular tears or retinal tears in about 10 percent of patients. The degenerated retina can also have cells that exfoliate and become suspended in the vitreous, causing flying mosquitoes. During a retinal tear, the blood vessels located in the retina can sometimes be pulled, causing small vitreous hemorrhages and blood cells to become suspended in the vitreous, producing a large number of small raindrops of mosquitoes. Retinal tears must be treated early to close the fissure, otherwise, water within the vitreous will accumulate under the retina through the fissure and cause retinal detachment.
Diabetic eyes cause vitreous hemorrhage
Patients with diabetic eyes often have hyperplasia of the retinal blood vessels, which can easily burst and may cause vitreous hemorrhage. A minor vitreous hemorrhage can lead to flying mosquitoes, but in severe cases, the eye will look like an additional layer of red curtains, and the patient’s vision will be significantly reduced.
Uveitis
When inflammation occurs in the uvea, the middle layer of the eye, white blood cells and other secretions can enter the vitreous through the blood vessels, resulting in the symptoms of flying mosquitoes. When the disease is serious, the floaters in the patient’s eye will be greatly increased, vision loss, must be uveitis control, in order to solve the problem of flying mosquitoes.
Flying mosquitoes should be taken seriously to prevent its adverse consequences.
Once there is flying mosquitoes, we should do a dilated complete examination of the retina as soon as possible, to make sure the retina is fine, if found to have lattice retinopathy or retinal fissure, should promptly use laser coagulation, with laser to fissure around the burner coagulation, it can effectively prevent the formation or spread of water, the formation of serious retinal detachment. If the mosquitoes are caused by individual eye diseases such as uveitis, the condition must be successfully controlled and the mosquitoes will be solved. Diabetic eyes require extensive retinal lasers to reduce or prevent the formation of proliferating blood vessels.
Conventional fundus laser treatments are long, have large laser spots, and are more damaging to the retina. The latest generation of fundus multipoint scanning matrix lasers have been created to excite multiple laser spots simultaneously, shortening the treatment time, greatly reducing the exposure time of the laser pulses and lowering the energy compared to conventional lasers, resulting in less damage to the retina and much less pain for the patient.
Conclusion
Most of the mosquitoes are benign. If you find mosquitoes, or if the original mosquitoes suddenly worsen, it is recommended to see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible for a thorough examination of the retina. If it is benign, there is no need to worry too much. For malignant mosquitoes, such as retinal tears or vitreous hemorrhage in diabetic eyes, early treatment is needed.