Handheld Green Laser Pointer Maculopathy

We report a case of retinal light damage caused, after a moment’s gaze, by a green laser pointer. A 14-year-old boy presented to our clinic with central scotoma in his right eye. He had looked in the direction of handheld green laser pointer without wearing protective glasses for a moment just for fun. Visual acuity was 1.2 in both eyes. Ophthalmoscopy revealed a foveal gray-white spot in the right eye. Optical coherence tomography demonstrated focal disruption of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and interdigitation zone (IZ), extending through the external limiting membrane to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). In addition, the perifoveal angular sign of Henle fiber layer hyperreflectivity was observed. Two weeks after the injury, the perifoveal Henle fiber layer hyperreflectivity was improved. Restoration of external limiting membrane and EZ disruption was observed at three weeks and five weeks after the injury, respectively However, IZ disruption remained.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Scholars Journal of Medical Case Reports
Published
2025-08-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.36347/sjmcr.2025.v13i08.026
Primary Topic
Ocular and Laser Science Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Handheld Green Laser Pointer Maculopathy

Shinji Makino, Mikiko Takewaza
Scholars Journal of Medical Case Reports
Ocular and Laser Science Research
article

Handheld Green Laser Pointer Maculopathy

Shinji Makino, Mikiko Takewaza
article en

Abstract

We report a case of retinal light damage caused, after a moment’s gaze, by a green laser pointer. A 14-year-old boy presented to our clinic with central scotoma in his right eye. He had looked in the direction of handheld green laser pointer without wearing protective glasses for a moment just for fun. Visual acuity was 1.2 in both eyes. Ophthalmoscopy revealed a foveal gray-white spot in the right eye. Optical coherence tomography demonstrated focal disruption of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and interdigitation zone (IZ), extending through the external limiting membrane to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). In addition, the perifoveal angular sign of Henle fiber layer hyperreflectivity was observed. Two weeks after the injury, the perifoveal Henle fiber layer hyperreflectivity was improved. Restoration of external limiting membrane and EZ disruption was observed at three weeks and five weeks after the injury, respectively However, IZ disruption remained.

Scholars Journal of Medical Case ReportsVol. 13(08)
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
Ocular and Laser Science Research
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