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Published on: August 4, 2023
Corneal Endothelial Cell Loss Following Airbag Injury
Omar Abdulaziz Alshehri1, Raed Eid Alsulami1, Bader Saad Alqahtani1
1King Saud bin AbdulAziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Purpose:
To report a rare incidence of corneal endothelial cell loss following airbag injury.
Observation:
A 27-year-old female who sustained a motor vehicle accident with airbag deployment presented with hand motion vision in the left eye. Ocular examination demonstrated corneal abrasion, significant corneal stromal edema with descemet folds, and a central pachymetry of 999 µm. The patient was managed with topical steroids and antibiotic drops. One week later, specular microscopy revealed a central endothelial cell count of 2200/mm2 with pleomorphism, polymegathism, and a decreased central corneal thickness of 569 µm. A repeat of specular microscopy 6 months later showed a decreased central endothelial cell count of 1611/mm2 with recovered visual acuity of 20/30.
Conclusion:
Corneal endothelial loss is a severe complication of ocular airbag injury. Serial ophthalmic assessment is recommended because endothelial cell loss may continue for some time after the initial impact.
