Solar retinopathy: long-term outcome

ABSTRACT

Although solar retinopathy has been recognized since ancient times, many people continue to be attracted by eclipses of the sun. Twenty-one cases of solar retinopathy are reported. Patients were subjected to a standard questionnaire followed by complete ophthalmic evaluation. Seventy-one% of the patients gazed directly at the sun or its eclipse, while another 14% gazed through ineffective protective devices. The lesions were unilateral in 57% of cases, often involving the right eye [83% of the unilateral cases]. The visual prognosis was generally good, with 73% of involved eyes retaining normal distance visual acuity and 93% retaining near visual acuity. However, 30% of all involved eyes showed some permanent visual disturbance that affected distance vision, near vision, colour vision and/or the central field of vision. The long-term visual outcome of solar retinopathy is favourable in the majority of the patients, but uncertain in others. Those who gaze at the sun risk permanent retinal damage and irreversible visual loss. It is also evident that the public in unaware of the dangers of sun gazing. Solar retinopathy refers to specific foveolar lesions that are reported to occur in individuals after viewing an eclipse or gazing directly at the sun. since the time of Plato, who recorded Socrates admonishment to avoid eclipse watching. The common belief persists that staring into the sun is harmless