Association between visual acuity loss and optical coherence tomography findings in patients with late solar retinopathy.

PURPOSE: To describe optical coherence tomography findings in patients with late solar retinopathy and their association with visual loss.

METHODS: Twenty-one eyes of 21 patients who had a history of watching a solar eclipse in 1999 with or without visual loss were evaluated with colored and red-free fundus photography and optical coherence tomography analysis using the macular thickness protocol.

RESULTS: Ten of the eyes (47.6%) had no visual acuity loss and 11 eyes (52.4%) had visual acuities ranging from 0.3 to 0.8. There was a strong correlation between central foveal thickness and visual acuity. Empty spaces involving the full thickness of the photoreceptor layer band of the entire fovea were observed in 10 eyes and found to be associated with visual acuity loss. Signal defects in the outer and inner segments of the photoreceptors were identified in 12 and 15 eyes, respectively, and were not associated with visual acuity loss.

CONCLUSION: Decreased central foveal thickness and full-thickness empty spaces beneath the fovea in optical coherence tomography analysis can be associated with permanent visual acuity loss in patients with a history of watching a solar eclipse.