[Traumatic choroid tears: visual prognosis and long-term course].

Fourteen cases of choroidal ruptures were studied in order to know the traumatic causes involved in such lesions and the subjects at higher risk. Moreover the visual acuity and the ophthalmoscopic and fluorescein angiographic features of the affected eyes were recorded. We found that the choroidal ruptures always were consequent to a contusive trauma, generally an object thrown against the patient, and that the group at higher risk was formed by young males. The number and location of the choroidal ruptures were variable, but in most cases the ruptures were more than one and located at the posterior pole. The choroidal ruptures were frequently associated with subretinal hemorrhages and, in half cases, with pigmentary changes. A patient showed a subretinal neovascular membrane and another one presented a macular fibrovascular scar. The fluorescein angiography characteristically showed hypofluorescence of the choroidal rupture in the early phases of the test and hyperfluorescence in the late venous phase due to staining of the tissue of the rupture. Seven patients were re-examined some years later. The patient that at first examination showed the subretinal neovascular membrane developed a fibrovascular scar caused by bleeding of the new vessels, while the patient that at the previous examination showed a fibrovascular scar did not reveal important changes. Among the five remaining patients, one maintained a low visual acuity due to the pigmentary changes occurring in the macular area; another, that had a macular rupture, recovered a fairly good vision after resorption of the macular hemorrhage; and the other three did not show relevant changes of either the visual acuity or the appearance of the lesions.