Nd:YAG laser hyaloidotomy for valsalva pre-macular haemorrhage

To report a case of successful drainage of a large pre-macular haemorrhage using laser photo-disruption of the posterior hyaloid membrane.

A case report.

A 47-year-old man presented acutely to our emergency department complaining of a 24-h history of sudden onset, painless and persistent loss of vision in his left eye. Immediately before noticing this loss of vision, he had been vomiting violently from excessive alcohol intake. The left visual acuity was counting fingers. Dilated fundoscopy of the left eye revealed a large pre-macular haemorrhage which was 14 disc diametres in size. Clotting investigations were normal. A diagnosis of valsalva retinopathy was made and the patient elected to receive a prompt neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser posterior hyaloidotomy as an outpatient. At 1 week follow-up, the haemorrhage had drained completely into the vitreous space revealing a healthy macula and the visual acuity had improved to 6/12 unaided. At 6-month follow-up the left visual acuity stabilised at 6/9 unaided.

Nd:YAG laser posterior hyaloidotomy is a useful outpatient procedure for successful clearance of large pre-macular haemorrhages that offers patients rapid recovery of visual acuity and the avoidance of more invasive intraocular surgery.