[Cause of a contusion of the eyeball]

A 21-year-old man presented in the emergency department with noticeable deterioration of vision and a feeling of pressure in the right eye. He stated that he had injured his eye when a shot was fired while cleaning a blank cartridge pistol. Ultrasound examination revealed no evidence of intravitreal hemorrhage or detachment of the retina. Examination by computed tomography did not reveal the presence of a foreign body. The severely reduced visual acuity could most likely be attributed to a traumatic cataract. An in-depth psychiatric examination of the anamnesis revealed that the patient had deliberately injured himself with the weapon. The severe traumatic eye injury was the result of an unrecognized hebephrenic schizophrenia.