Bottle cork and cap injury to the eye: a review of 34 cases

Abstract

To describe our series of bottle cork and cap injuries to the eye in order to report the visual impairment and clinical outcomes observed in 34 cases over an 8-year period. Retrospective review of the database of the Ophthalmology Institute of Modena from January 1999 to September 2007. All patients presented with closed-globe injury according to Kuhn et al.'s classification. All the cases were caused by sparkling wine: white in 24 cases and red in ten cases. The incidence varied between six and two cases a year (average 3.89). Bottle cork and cap injuries represent 11% of all injuries admitted to our department in the period considered in our series. In details: nine patients recovered totally, 22 patients recovered partially, three patients had a severe visual outcome (<grade 3 according to trauma classification system, BCVA < 0.2). Five patients needed a surgical procedure. The most frequent ocular lesion was hyphema; the worst was retinal detachment due to a giant retinal tear and two patients suffered very severe visual impairment. To our knowledge, this is the largest series of bottle cork and cap injuries to the eye published to date. This kind of injury can be potentially sight-threatening, leading to severe visual loss in a small percentage of cases. We highlight the need for preventative measures such as labelling or devices to regulate cork pressure.