Summary
Purpose To report on a patient including measurements of retinal changes in ocular chalcosis.
Patient and Methods After having suffered an open-globe injury presumably due to a small foreign body
after a grenade explosion, a 30-year-old man presented six years later with ocular
chalcosis including sunflower cataract, a multitude of tiny brownish particles in
the anterior vitreous, a fibrillar degeneration of the posterior vitreous and brilliant
patches overriding the foveal region. The patches were measured by confocal scanning
laser tomography (HRT) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Results Besides an acquired cyandyschromatopsia, psychophysical and electrophysiologic tests
were unremarkable. Vision was 20/20. The central patches measured 200 to 700 µm in
diameter (HRT) and 150 to 200 µm in height above the inner retinal surface (HRT and
OCT).
Discussion With exception of a Kayser-Fleischer ring of the cornea the patient presents all
morphologic signs of ocular chalcosis. Although the observed patches on the central
retina in ocular chalcosis are described in the literature, their nature is not known.
Schlüsselwörter
Chalcosis - Sonnenblumenkatarakt - Makulopathie - Komplikation nach intraokularem
Fremdkörper - Laser scanning Tomographie - Optische Kohärenz Tomograhie
Key words
Chalcosis - sunflower cataract - maculopathy - intraocular foreign body complication
- laser scanning tomography - optical coherence tomography
