Purpose: To investigate the morphologic appearance on optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the macula in patients with late solar retinopathy and its association with visual acuity.
Design: Observational case series.
Methods: All patients with solar retinopathy evaluated between 1998 and 2003 at one institution were invited to participate in an ophthalmic evaluation.
Results: In all four affected eyes of four patients, OCT demonstrated abnormal reflectivity at the outer foveal retina, such as fragmentation or interruption of the inner high reflective layer corresponding to the junction between the photoreceptor inner and outer segments. Involvement of the entire photoreceptor reflective layer at the fovea was observed in the patient with decreased visual acuity (20/60).
Conclusions: Optical coherence tomography demonstrated abnormalities in the outer foveal retina. The OCT findings suggest that decreased visual acuity may be associated with full-thickness involvement of the photoreceptors.