Vitreous hemorrhage occurs when extravasated blood is inside or around the vitreous humor of the eye. This can occur from damage to normal blood vessels, growth of abnormal blood vessels, or bleeding from other parts of the eye.
Symptoms of vitreous hemorrhage include sudden, painless vision loss, photophobia, and the perception of shadows and cobwebs floating in front of their eyes. Sometimes, patients describe their vision as worse in the morning because blood has settled at the back of their eye during the night.
Vitreous Hemorrhage Ultrasound Findings
On ophthalmic ultrasound, vitreous hemorrhage looks like echogenic material in the posterior chamber. If you ask the patient to move their eye on ophthalmic ultrasound, vitreous hemorrhage is best visualized with normal or high gain settings. Vitreous hemorrhage looks like echogenic material in the posterior chamber. If you ask the patient to move their eye side-to-side, you may see the washing machine sign, where the echogenic material appears to swirl like clothes in a washing machine.
