A case of Valsalva retinopathy caused by a traffic accident

Background : We report a case of Valsalva retinopathy caused by a traffic accident without head injury. Case Report : A 57-year-old female injured her left foot in a traffic accident and was admitted to the hospital, but she did not appear to have hurt her head or face. Two days after the accident, she complained of blurred vision in the left eye. Nine days after the accident, she was referred to the Department of Ophthalmology of Shizuoka Red Cross Hospital with visual acuity in the left eye of 0.2 and preretinal hemorrhage involving the fovea. By 6 months later, the hemorrhage had resolved spontaneously and her visual acuity had improved to 1.0. Conclusions : The cause of the preretinal hemorrhage was thought to be Valsalva retinopathy secondary to a sudden increase in intrathoracic pressure when the patient was involved in the traffic accident.