An Epidemiologic and Pathologic Study of Globes Enucleated Following Trauma

Abstract

This retrospective study examined demographic, clinical, and histopathologic factors in 24 traumatically ruptured globes that were enucleated at Wills Eye Hospital during a 2-year period. The majority of these injuries occurred in a violent assault setting with a blunt mechanism, during the evening and early morning hours, and in the fall and winter months. Most patients were black males, and 67% were substance abusers. Clinically, the initial visual acuity in 96% of the eyes was light perception or worse. Five of the eyes were enucleated primarily. Gross examination of the globes revealed that 92% of the wounds involved the sclera, 83% of the eyes had hyphema, and 71% of the lacerations were longer than 10 mm. Histopathologic examination demonstrated that the majority of eyes had fragmented or missing lenses, disrupted ciliary bodies, and detached choroids. Ninety-six percent of the retinas were detached. There was one case of acute endophthalmitis.