Early subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to an accidental stage laser injury.
OBJECTIVE
To report a case of early subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to an accidental stage laser injury.


METHODS
A 22-year-old female technician complained of visual loss and an immovable shadow in her right central vision after being irradiated accidentally by a laser light beam with a wavelength of 532 nm while aligning a stage laser light. She underwent a full ophthalmologic examination 5 days later; including visual acuity, color fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. Eight months later these examinations were repeated, accompanied by optical coherence tomography.


RESULTS
Best-corrected visual acuity in her right eye was 0.08 at 5 days after the injury and hand motion 8 months later; acuity remained at 1.2 in the left throughout follow-up. A small grayish-yellow lesion with exudation was present at the foveal area in the right eye 5 days after the injury. Eight months later the lesion had enlarged and hemorrhage had appeared. A classic choroidal neovascularization was detected in the subfovea on both fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography. Another 4 months later the visual acuity had increased to 0.01. Funduscopic examination revealed the lesion unchanged and the hemorrhage diminished.


CONCLUSIONS
Stage laser light with a wavelength of 532 nm may cause early subfoveal choroidal neovascularization when used inappropriately.
Sun
Zuhua
Z
Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology of Ministry of Education, and Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, 54 Xianlie Road, Guangzhou, 510060, People's Republic of China.
Wen
Feng
F
Li
Xu
X
Wu
Dezheng
D
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000328:Adult; D002829:Choroid / Q000293:injuries*; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers / Q000009:adverse effects*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity