Solar retinopathy in children

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the visual acuity, fundus appearance, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings in 5 eyes of 3 children with foveal damage from solar retinopathy.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational case series of children who presented to the emergency department at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital after having directly viewed the Sun during the transit of Venus on June 6, 2012, or the partial eclipse of the Sun on November 14, 2012. All patients underwent visual acuity testing, dilated fundus examination, and SD-OCT imaging.

Results: The 3 patients' ages at presentation were 8, 10, and 11 years. Best-corrected visual acuity in the affected eyes ranged from 20/20 to 20/40 on presentation. Significant foveal pathology was identified on SD-OCT in all 5 eyes, even when visual acuity was normal. At presentation, all eyes showed disruption of the photoreceptor ellipsoid zone and the interdigitation zone on SD-OCT. Additionally, in those eyes with decreased visual acuity, there was disruption of the outer nuclear layer and/or external limiting membrane. At 3-5 months' follow-up, the outer nuclear layer and external limiting membrane lesions had resolved; however, in some eyes the ellipsoid and interdigitation zone abnormalities persisted at 5 months' follow-up, even in the presence of best-corrected visual acuity as good as 20/12.5.

Conclusions: Solar retinopathy in children can cause persistent damage to multiple retinal layers despite recovery of good visual acuity.