High-speed ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography findings in chronic solar retinopathy.

PURPOSE

To describe ocular findings for a 34-year-old man with chronic solar retinopathy using high-speed ultrahigh-resolution (UHR) optical coherence tomography (OCT).

METHODS

Fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and Stratus OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA) were performed. A high-speed UHR OCT prototype developed in our ophthalmology clinic was used to obtain detailed images of the retina.

PATIENTS

Two eyes of one patient with chronic solar retinopathy were studied.

RESULTS

Both Stratus OCT and high-speed UHR OCT demonstrated foveal thinning bilaterally. In addition, high-speed UHR OCT showed distinct hyporeflective disruptions in the photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment junction and photoreceptor outer segments bilaterally. En face OCT images from three-dimensional OCT data sets revealed hyporeflective regions of photoreceptor atrophy in the outer retina.

CONCLUSIONS

High-speed UHR OCT showed more detail than standard OCT, and findings were consistent with histopathologic and ultrastructural features that have been reported previously. Solar retinopathy should be studied further with high-speed UHR OCT to determine the short- and long-term effects of solar radiation damage.