PURPOSE: To report on the anatomical and functional changes to the macula in nine patients suffering from commotio retinae not accompanied by any other types of traumatic retinopathy. METHODS: Nine injured eyes with commotio retinae were evaluated soon after ocular trauma with ophthalmic examination, including Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). In 12 eyes of 6 patients, Humphrey visual field (HVF) and multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) were performed. Re-examinations were periodically performed for a mean of 26 days. Data from 9 injured eyes were collected and compared to data collected from the 9 non-affected eyes of the same patients. RESULTS: SD-OCT revealed no significant differences in the foveal thickness and total macular volume between traumatized and intact eyes in all 9 patients. Only 3 out of the 9 injured eyes showed abnormal findings in SD-OCT images such as discontinuity of the inner/outer segment (IS/OS) junction or abnormal hyper-reflectivity from the IS/OS and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) lines in the macula. HVF and mfERG results did not show any functional deterioration in the injured eyes compared with intact eyes. During follow-up, the commotio retinae resolved in all 9 eyes. The changes to the outer retinal region detected in 3 patients by SD-OCT were also resolved. CONCLUSIONS: Acute retinal changes in commotio retinae, not associated with other retinal pathologies, were resolved without histological and functional sequelae. In a few cases of commotio retinae, SD-OCT revealed transient abnormalities mainly observed at the IS/OS and RPE complexes.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Electroretinography ; Eye Injuries/classification/*complications/pathology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Macula Lutea/*injuries/pathology/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retinal Diseases/*etiology/pathology/physiopathology ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium/injuries/pathology/physiopathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Trauma Severity Indices ; Visual Acuity ; Visual Fields ; Young Adult