Changes in retinal light sensitivity following blunt ocular trauma.

PURPOSE

To prospectively examine changes in retinal light sensitivity following blunt ocular trauma in eyes with traumatic hyphaema with no evidence of retinal injuries 1 week, 1 month and 4 months after injury.

METHOD

Sixteen patients who sustained hyphaema after blunt ocular trauma without visible traumatic retinal lesions underwent visual field testing on the C 30-2 programme of the Humphrey field analyser as soon as visual acuity recovered to 0.7 or more with correction.

RESULTS

Significant reduction in retinal sensitivity with MD (mean deviation) p values less than 5% was found in 50% (8 eyes) of our patients 1 week after injury. MD p values significantly improved 1 month after injury (p < 0.001) and even more so after 4 months (p < 0.00004). After 4 months only in one eye (6%) was a significant reduction in retinal sensitivity observed with a MD p value less than 5%. No correlations between improvement in retinal sensitivity and the extent of hyphaema or the extent of angle recession were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

In 50% of eyes following blunt ocular trauma without evident traumatic posterior segment abnormalities significant transient reduction in retinal light sensitivity was observed with nearly complete recovery over time.