Bilateral macular injury following red laser pointer exposure: A case report

We report the case of bilateral red laser pointer macular injury which developed macular neovascularization (MNV) in one eye. A 10-year-old boy presented with MNV in the right eye, and disruption of the outer retinal layers in the left eye fol-lowing exposure to a class 3a red laser pointer with 5 milliwatt energy at 650 nanometer wavelength, 3 weeks ago. After 2 consecutive monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections in the right eye, no MNV re-activation was seen during 10 months of follow-up. This case emphasizes that laser pointer misuse or abuse can cause extensive photothermal injury which can lead to MNV.