A Case of Maculopathy from Handheld Green Laser Pointer

Young Jun Kim; In Young Chung; Seong Jae Kim; Jong Moon Park; Yong Seop Han

doi:10.7469/JKOS.2015.56.03.447

Journal List > J Korean Ophthalmol Soc > v.56(3) > 1010227

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Kim, Chung, Kim, Park, and Han: A Case of Maculopathy from Handheld Green Laser Pointer

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2015;56(3):447-451.

Published online: 7 September 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7469/JKOS.2015.56.03.447

A Case of Maculopathy from Handheld Green Laser Pointer

Young Jun Kim, MD¹, In Young Chung, MD, PhD^1,², Seong Jae Kim, MD, PhD^1,², Jong Moon Park, MD, PhD^1,², Yong Seop Han, MD, PhD^1,²

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Korea

²Gyeongsang Institute of Health Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea

￭ Address reprint requests to Yong Seop Han, MD, PhD Department of Ophthalmology, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, #79 Gangnam-ro, Jinju 660-702, Korea Tel: 82-55-750-8181, Fax: 82-55-758-4158 E-mail: medcabin@hanmail.net

Received 8 November 201410 February 2015 Accepted 17 February 2015

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

초록

Purpose:

To report a case of successfully treated maculopathy after exposure to a handheld green laser pointer beam.

Case summary:

A-15-year-old patient visited our clinic complaining of visual disturbance in the left eye 5 days earlier after exposure to a handheld laser pointer with 532 nm wavelength green beam for 5 seconds. His best corrected visual acuity was 20/50 in the left eye. On fundus examination, a yellowish retinal scar was observed at the foveal area. The spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) showed cone outer segment tip line and inner segment/outer segment line disruption, external limiting membrane line and retinal pigment epithelial complex injury related to laser pointer exposure. We started occlusion therapy, oral prednisolone and, antioxidant treatment on his left eye for 2 weeks. The best corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in the left eye at 1 month after treatment. However, spectral domain optical coherence tomography showed a scar remained in the retinal pigment epithelial complex of the macular region of his left eye while the external limiting membrane line was restored and inner segment/outer segment line was partially restored.

Conclusions:

Maculopathy can result from exposure to a handheld green laser pointer. Occlusion therapy, oral prednisolone and, antioxidant treatment might be helpful for recovery of visual acuity and restoration of external limiting membrane line.

Keywords: Antioxidant, Green laser pointer, Maculopathy, Prednisolone, SD-OCT

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Figure 1.

Fundus photograph (A) and SD-OCT (B) at the first ophthalmic examination show yellowish retinal scar at the foveal area and cone outer segment tip line and inner segment/outer segment line disruption, external limiting membrane line and retinal pigment epithelial complex injury in the left eye. SD-OCT = spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Figure 2.

Fundus photograph (A) and SD-OCT (B) after 2 weeks of treatment show external limiting membrane, inner segment/outer segment line were partially restored, but retinal scar at the foveal area and retinal pigment epithelial complex injury persist in the left eye. SD-OCT = spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Figure 3.

Fundus photograph (A) and SD-OCT (B) after 1 month of treatment show external limiting membrane was fully restored, and inner segment/outer segment line was partially restored, but the retinal scar at the foveal area, and retinal pigment epithelial complex injury remain in place. SD-OCT = spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

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