The
n e w e ng l a n d j o u r na l
of
m e dic i n e
images in clinical medicine Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., Editor
Bilateral Corneal Abrasions from Airbag Deployment A
B
Ryan James Fante, M.D. Jonathan D. Trobe, M.D. University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center Ann Arbor, MI [email protected]
A
17-year-old girl presented to the emergency department with blurred vision and the sensation of a foreign body in both eyes immediately after being in a motor vehicle accident in which airbags were deployed. The patient, a passenger, was wearing a seatbelt when the vehicle she was in rear-ended a rapidly decelerating car on a freeway. She sustained no other injuries, and no other occupants of the vehicle were injured. Her visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye. Fluorescein staining of the cornea viewed under illumination through a cobalt blue filter revealed an imprint of the nylon mesh pattern of the airbag cover on the corneal surface of the right eye (Panel A) and a corneal abrasion in the left eye (Panel B). There was also a small hyphema in the left anterior chamber. The patient was treated with erythromycin ointment, and the corneal abrasions completely resolved within 24 hours. After 2 weeks, the hyphema had resolved, and the patient had 20/20 visual acuity in each eye. Corneal abrasion and hyphema can be concussive eye injuries resulting from airbag deployment.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMicm1313137 Copyright © 2014 Massachusetts Medical Society.
e40
n engl j med 370;26 nejm.org june 26, 2014
The New England Journal of Medicine Downloaded from nejm.org on December 19, 2014. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2014 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.
n e w e ng l a n d j o u r na l
of
m e dic i n e
images in clinical medicine Lindsey R. Baden, M.D., Editor
Bilateral Corneal Abrasions from Airbag Deployment A
B
Ryan James Fante, M.D. Jonathan D. Trobe, M.D. University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center Ann Arbor, MI [email protected]
A
17-year-old girl presented to the emergency department with blurred vision and the sensation of a foreign body in both eyes immediately after being in a motor vehicle accident in which airbags were deployed. The patient, a passenger, was wearing a seatbelt when the vehicle she was in rear-ended a rapidly decelerating car on a freeway. She sustained no other injuries, and no other occupants of the vehicle were injured. Her visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye. Fluorescein staining of the cornea viewed under illumination through a cobalt blue filter revealed an imprint of the nylon mesh pattern of the airbag cover on the corneal surface of the right eye (Panel A) and a corneal abrasion in the left eye (Panel B). There was also a small hyphema in the left anterior chamber. The patient was treated with erythromycin ointment, and the corneal abrasions completely resolved within 24 hours. After 2 weeks, the hyphema had resolved, and the patient had 20/20 visual acuity in each eye. Corneal abrasion and hyphema can be concussive eye injuries resulting from airbag deployment.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMicm1313137 Copyright © 2014 Massachusetts Medical Society.
e40
n engl j med 370;26 nejm.org june 26, 2014
The New England Journal of Medicine Downloaded from nejm.org on December 19, 2014. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2014 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.
