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    Solar Eclipse Maculopathy

    By Robin A. Vora, MD, The Permanente Medical Group, Oakland, Calif., and Poorab K. Sangani, MD, The Permanente Medical Group, Daly City, Calif., and edited by Michael P. Kelly, FOPS
    Photographed by Maryann Fajardo, The Permanente Medical Group, Daly City, Calif.
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    Solar Eclipse Maculopathy

    A 36-year-old man noticed spots in the central vision of both eyes five days after watching a partial solar eclipse. His bilateral uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was 20/30. A dilated fundus exam showed a yellow spot in each fovea.

    Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of his right and left eyes (Figs. 1A and 1B, respectively) revealed a full-thickness, hyperreflective vertical band (arrow) in the fovea of both eyes. The man was diagnosed with solar eclipse maculopathy. No treatment was recommended.

    At three-month follow-up, the patient continued to complain of poor quality of vision. His UCVA was 20/25 bilaterally. Although his clinical exam had normalized, OCT image of his right and left eyes (Fig. 2A and 2B, respectively) showed focal subfoveal outer retinal defects. Specifically, there was a clear discontinuity of the inner segment–outer segment junction (arrow) in the fovea of both eyes.

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