Retinal injuries in seven teenage boys from the same handheld laser

Sayed Faraj; Marianne Etzelmüller Bathen; Augustinas Galeckas; Andreas Myrold; Ingar Stene-Johansen; Øystein Kalsnes Jørstad; Morten Carstens Moe

doi:10.1016/j.ajoc.2022.101596

Retinal injuries in seven teenage boys from the same handheld laser

Am J Ophthalmol Case Rep. 2022 May 25:27:101596. doi: 10.1016/j.ajoc.2022.101596. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Sayed Faraj^{1

2}, Marianne Etzelmüller Bathen³, Augustinas Galeckas⁴, Andreas Myrold¹, Ingar Stene-Johansen¹, Øystein Kalsnes Jørstad^{1

2}, Morten Carstens Moe^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway.
² Institute for Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
³ Advanced Power Semiconductor Laboratory, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Physics/ Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

This paper presents retinal injuries in 10 eyes of seven teenagers who had been playing with a handheld laser. They reported different degrees of visual symptoms in the form of central scotomas. Clinical examination revealed light burns in the maculae and disruption of the retinal layers on OCT. One patient developed secondary choroidal neovascularization (CNV), which was successfully treated with intravitreal ranibizumab. For some of the patients, the injuries led to permanent visual sequela. This devastating case series emphasizes the need for awareness among minors, parents and communities about the danger of playing with handheld lasers.

Keywords: Choroidal neovascularization; Laser-induced maculopathy; Laser-induced retinal injury; Laser-induced retinopathy.

Publication types

Case Reports