Purpose: To report a case of early subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to an accidental stage laser injury.
Methods: A 22-year-old female technician complained of visual loss and an immovable shadow in her right central vision after being irradiated accidentally by a laser light beam with a wavelength of 532 nm while aligning a stage laser light. She underwent a full ophthalmologic examination 5 days later; including visual acuity, color fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. Eight months later these examinations were repeated, accompanied by optical coherence tomography.
Results: Best-corrected visual acuity in her right eye was 0.08 at 5 days after the injury and hand motion 8 months later; acuity remained at 1.2 in the left throughout follow-up. A small grayish-yellow lesion with exudation was present at the foveal area in the right eye 5 days after the injury. Eight months later the lesion had enlarged and hemorrhage had appeared. A classic choroidal neovascularization was detected in the subfovea on both fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography. Another 4 months later the visual acuity had increased to 0.01. Funduscopic examination revealed the lesion unchanged and the hemorrhage diminished.
Conclusions: Stage laser light with a wavelength of 532 nm may cause early subfoveal choroidal neovascularization when used inappropriately.