Air-bags have received widespread support as an effective means of enhancing automotive safety, and they are becoming more common as standard automobile equipment on many cars. Although air-bag induced ocular injuries are rare, they present a serious concern because of the possibility of permanent damage or visual impairment. To date, most reports have investigated ocular injury from high velocity motor vehicle accidents and reports of ocular injury from low speed motor vehicle accidents have been rare. We describe a patient who sustained severe ocular injury, including periorbital fracture, hyphema, vitreous hemorrhage, and choroidal rupture of the macular area, due to an inflated air-bag in a low speed motor vehicle accident.
Accidents, Traffic ; Adult ; Air Bags/*adverse effects ; Choroid/*injuries ; Eye Injuries/*etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Hyphema/*etiology ; Orbital Fractures/*etiology/radiography ; Rupture ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vitreous Hemorrhage/*etiology/ultrasonography

A 60-year-old diabetic patient transferred to our retina clinic for a regular follow-up for diabetic retinopathy. He had uneventful cataract surgery at the time of pars plana vitrectomy in the right eye due to diabetic retinopathy at a private ophthalmologic hospital. Six months after the surgery, neovascular glaucoma with hyphema developed in the right eye and an Ahmed valve was implanted at our hospital. Ten months after cataract surgery, we found opacification of the intraocular lens (IOL) which was causing significant visual disturbance. At the time, the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in the right eye was hand motion. The IOL was explanted 45 months after the operation. Five months after explantation, the BCVA was 0.06. Unfortunately, pathologic analysis was not performed. Patient-related factors such as an anterior chamber reaction caused by hyphema might have been responsible for the opacification. To our knowledge, there are no previous reports of opacification of the Akreos Adapt IOL.
Cataract/complications/etiology ; Cataract Extraction ; Device Removal ; Diabetic Retinopathy/surgery ; Equipment Failure ; Eyeglasses ; Glaucoma, Neovascular/etiology ; Humans ; Hyphema/etiology ; Lens Implantation, Intraocular ; Lenses, Intraocular/*adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; Vision Disorders/*etiology ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy/methods