Long-term Follow-up Results of Patients with Welding-arc Maculopathy Assessed Using Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

Abstract

Purpose: We present four cases of welding arc maculopathy as observed using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Case summary: Four patients, who performed welding without wearing protective eye gear, presented to the hospital due to poor visual acuity. The mean visual acuity of the patients was 0.6. Fundus photographs of the four patients revealed a yellowish retinal scar at the fovea. SD-OCT images of the four patients showed photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment junction (IS/OS junction) disruption and retinal pigment epithelium injury. We diagnosed the patients with welding arc maculopathy, and three of them were treated with oral steroids or antioxidants. The IS/OS junctions were restored in two patients, who had short welding arc exposures. The disrupted IS/OS junction recovered partially in one of the other two patients, who had a longer duration of exposure, and the IS/OS junction disruption remained in another patient. Conclusions: We report four cases of welding arc maculopathy caused by welding light exposure evaluated using SD-OCT and treated with oral steroids and antioxidants.