Laser Pointer Burns Through Boy's Eye
- by Laura Grandis
- in Médecine
- — Juin 24, 2018
An examination revealed a large hole in his macula - the part of the retina that enables clear vision of close objects including faces and words.
According to the paper, the boy's dad bought the laser from a street market, to give to his son to play with.
In a shocking incident, a nine-year-old boy has become partially blind after playing with a green laser pointer that burned a hole in his eye. Treating macular holes with surgery nearly always leads to the formation of cataracts, Sofia Androudi, a physician involved in the boy's treatment, explained to CNN.
As a result, the boy's vision in his left eye was obliterated. As it was a green laser, Androudi stressed that it is more unsafe to use than a typical red-orange pointer, as human eyes are more sensitive to blue-green light. Androudi at the University of Thessaly in Greece, the nerves of the eye, which absorb light rays, were completely damaged as the hole in the macula was caused by laser burn. Unfortunately, even if the surgery were successful, the little boy would still lose his sight.
According to the vision report of the boy, his right eye's vision measured at 20/20 and his left eye's vision measured at 20/100.
Health officials have warned for years about the possible dangers of laser pointers for people's eyes.
Despite that path of action, doctors confirmed that the boy's eyesight had not strengthened or recovered after 18 months of follow-up treatments, the journal reported. Further, Dr. Lee added, "That can leave scar tissue behind and can cause bleeding".
The child came in for a check-up with his doctor in Volos, Greece, more than a year after his injury, and complained of some issues seeing.
The United States Food and Drug Administration has restricted vendors to sell laser pointers having more than five milliwatts power all over the U.S. But this restriction is not yet regulated or enforced. Furthermore, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute professor of ophthalmology Peter Gehlbach, who was not involved in the study, told CNN that powerful laser pointers are oftentimes mislabeled to understate the power output. "While there are legitimate uses for these laser pointers, they may be altered to become more powerful and unsafe if not used responsibly".
