Commotio Retinae - Vehicle Accident

This patient presented with central vision loss in his left eye and reported that he had a car accident on 12/8/2017 in which the airbags deployed. His vision tested to be 20/30 in the right eye and 20/200 in the left. Fundus examination revealed a normal right eye but mild retinal pigment mottling inferonasal to the fovea in his left (note the difference in breadth of the darker central macular zone indicated by the faint white circles). Optical coherence tomography scans show ellipsoid zone changes (yellow arrows) associated with commotio retinae (also called Berlin’s edema). In blunt trauma cases such as this one, a permanent scotoma can remain and visual recovery is limited. He was advised to use safety glasses to protect his good eye and return if he noticed any new symptoms.