IATROGENIC OCCLUSION OF THE OPHTHALMIC ARTERY AFTER SODIUM TETRADECYL SULFATE INJECTION IN THE FOREHEAD

To describe a patient with ophthalmic artery occlusion after sodium tetradecyl sulfate foam injection in the forehead.

In this case report, a description of the clinical examination and imaging findings, including fundus photography, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and fluorescein angiography are reported.

A 33-year-old white woman presented with severe painless vision loss in the left eye after cosmetic treatment of a forehead vein with sodium tetradecyl sulfate foam. Her visual acuity in the left eye was hand motions, and her fundus revealed diffuse retinal whitening in the macula with the absence of a cherry red spot and disruption of the arteriolar blood supply. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography revealed intense hyperreflectivity of the inner and outer retina with loss of the foveal contour, and fluorescein angiography revealed delayed filling of the choroidal vasculature and cilioretinal artery with incomplete filling of the retinal arterioles in the late frames consistent with ophthalmic artery occlusion.

This case represents a devastating ocular complication after the inadvertent injection of sodium tetradecyl sulfate into a forehead artery, resulting in occlusion of the ophthalmic artery and severe vision loss.