Can solar burn affect one eye, with cataract in the other?

Question

Hi doctor,

My father who is 56 years old, observed reduced visibility since eight months. On consulting a doctor, he found cataract in one eye and solar burn in the other. Does solar burn occur in one eye? Kindly help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Solar retinopathy is due to exposure to radiations from sun. It mostly affects both eyes but in some patients only one eye may be affected. I advise you to consult a local eye specialist and get fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) done in other eye. The tests will tell if other eye is normal or affected. Do not be afraid. It affects central vision and get your father operated for cataract. This has nothing to do with cataract surgery. I hope this helps you. Regards.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

First of all, I will discuss prognosis of solar retinopathy (SR) in brief. Mild solar retinopathy: vision clears rapidly without treatment. In Moderate - severe retinopathy, patients are left with permanent visual and retinal damage in early stages and possibly of late complications like central or paracentral scotoma. This means you can see everything, but exact center view is not clear. If there is early improvement full recovery is expected within 6 months. Now, discussing specifically about your father, one eye is normal as you said. I would suggest you to go for OCT and Amsler Grid test in this eye also. Because, sometimes changes are so subtle that we miss it. Other eye has cataract and solar retinopathy. Now in this eye vision is decreased due to two factors one due to cataract and other due to solar retinopathy. After cataract surgery, vision will improve and your father will feel better. But, he may or may not get 6/6 vision depending on damage to retina due to SR. SR does not make person blind. It just decreases vision in severe cases only. It may hamper the quality of vision in moderate cases and in mild cases nothing happens. Now specific answer to your specific question is that auto healing does occur but in mild cases. It usually happens within 1 month to 6 months after exposure to solar eclipse. I hope this helps you. Regards.