Abstract
Purpose: :
To describe a patient with an occupational laser injury who had initial vitreous hemorrhage and late manifestation of a macular hole.
Methods: :
Case Report: A 51 year-old male optical scientist working with high energy lasers was accidentally exposed to a 800 nm Solid State Titanium Sapphire Laser. He presented initially with blurred vision in right eye, which was caused by vitreous hemorrhage from a retino-choroidal lesion in the macula. The vision normalized and he later presented after 16 months with decreased vision in the left eye with a visual acuity of 20/70. Fundus exam, optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography revealed a full thickness macular hole in the left eye. Common risk factors for developing macular hole as trauma, age over 65 years and posterior vitreous detachment were absent.
Results: :
The macular hole was treated with pars plana vitrectomy and membrane peeling, which improved the vision to 20/50.
Conclusions: :
Macular hole can present as a late manifestation after occupational laser injury. In a previous report by Sasahara et al. Am. J. Oph. 2003;136:1167-1170, a man presented with a macular hole 53 days after accidental exposure to a Ti:Sapphire laser. The current case report shows that macular hole can present as late as 16 months after a Ti:Sapphire laser injury.
Keywords: trauma • macular holes • laser