Photic maculopathy secondary to short-circuiting of a high-tension electric current

A 21-year-old man was exposed accidentally to the flash of a high-tension short circuit. He subsequently developed a yellow-gray foveolar lesion with mild central visual loss. Fluorescein angiography demonstrated the area of retinal pigment epithelial disruption and was used to follow its evolution over eight months. The energy level at the retina was estimated at 0.87 Joules/cm2, insufficient to create a thermal burn. Therefore, although the patient suffered thermal facial burns, the foveolar lesion represents a photochemical injury to the retinal pigment epithelium and, hence, is similar to solar retinopathy, eclipse blindness, and arc-welder's retinopathy.