Negative g-Force Ocular Trauma Caused by a Rapidly Spinning Carousel
A healthy, 10-year-old boy was examined in our institution due to bilateral diffuse subconjunctival hemorrhage. He had mounted a carousel that was attached to an electrical scooter, and had spun round on it very rapidly. The boy had no control of the carousel, but fortunately an adult managed to disconnect the scooter. The rapid spinning lasted for about 1 min, during which the boy suffered an intense headache, but did not lose consciousness. After dismounting the carousel, the boy complained of a headache, his face was swollen, both eyes were red and he was brought to the emergency room in our institution.\nOn examination, visual acuity was 20/20 OU. Bilateral subconjunctival hemorrhages were noted in both eyes (fig. ). The remainder of the examination was normal, with clear corneas and lenses, no intraocular hemorrhage of any kind and normal dilated fundus examination. Intraocular pressure was 12 mm Hg in both eyes, and pupillary responses were normal. There was no limitation in ocular motility. Additional findings of the physical examination included a mild swelling and periocular petechiae (fig. ) as well as petechiae in both ear canals and on the soft palate.\nHead CT was normal, with no evidence for intracranial or orbital hemorrhage. Optical coherence tomography showed a normal retinal structure (fig. ). The subconjunctival hemorrhages enlarged initially, but were then gradually resorbed and had disappeared completely within 1 month (fig. ). Visual acuity remained 20/20 throughout the follow-up.