A Case of Photic Retinal Injury Associated Exposure to Plasma Arc Welding with Sung-Won Choi, MD, Ko-I Chun, MD, Seok-Joon Lee, MD, Sang-Hoon Rah, MD Department of Ophthalmology, Wonju Christian Hospital, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju-city, Kangwon-do, Korea Purpose: To report of photic retinopathy induced by plasma arc welding, and the OCT (optical coherence tomography) results of damaged retinal lesions. Methods: We describe a case report of a 37-year-old male, working in the steel industry, who presented with central scotoma in both eyes. Results: On his first visit, one day after performing plasma arc welding with protective gear at work, his best corrected vision was 0.7 for both eyes. Ophthalmic examination of the fundus showed a round yellow lesion with an approximate size of 300 micrometers superonasal to the fovea of both eyes. On his next visit, one month later, his vision had recovered to 1.0, his symptoms had improved, and the ophthalmoscopic examination of the fundus revealed that the round yellow spots had disappeared from both eyes. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report of photic retinopathy induced by plasma arc welding, and the OCT (optical coherence tomography) results of damaged retinal lesions have not previously been reported. For these reasons, we report this case. Korean Journal of Ophthalmology 20(4):250-253, 2006 Key Words: Optical coherence tomography, Photic retinal injury, Plasma arc welding, Welding arc retinopathy Light consists of a wide range of electromagnetic waves, among which UV or blue light with a short wavelength is known to damage the retina. Although the electromagnetic radiation produced by welding equipment depends on the particular technique being used and the voltage, its composi- tion is similar to that of light. Welding techniques have improved over the years, from coated metal arc welding to the present day use of higher temperature gas tungsten arc welding and gas metal arc welding. Recently, the creation of plasma in atmospheric air has become possible, and numerous researchers are studying its potential applications. Plasma arc welding has a good energy concentration ratio, and its temperature reaches 10,000 to 30,000 degrees Celsius. For this reason, plasma arc welding has reduced the duration of welding operations. As a result, it has become the preferred welding technique. However, the high temperature of plasma arc welding results in the radiation of many electromagnetic waves, making it more likely to cause retinal damage than conventional arc Received: May 29, 2006 Accepted: November 6, 2006 Reprint requests to Seok-joon Lee, MD. Department of Ophthalmol- ogy, Wonju Christian Hospital, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, #162 Ilsan-dong, Wonju-city, Kangwon-do 220-701, Korea. Tel: 82-33-741-0633, Fax: 82-33-745-2965, E-mail: eyesj@yonsei. ac.kr 250 welding techniques. Photic retinal injury caused by welding is quite rare. The first case was reported in 1902, when Terrien studied subway construction workers. However, until now, no cases of photic retinal injury associated with plasma arc welding have been published in the literature. In addition, there have been no reports of OCT being used to examine a retinal lesion associated with photic retinal injury. Herein we report on a case of photic retinopathy induced by plasma arc welding which was investigated using OCT, along with a review of the associated literature. Case Report A 37-year-old male visited our hospital complaining of acute loss of vision and central scotoma. He was a welder in the steel industry. One day before he visited, he had been using plasma arc welding equipment while wearing protective goggles. His best corrected vision was tested and was found to be 0.7 for both eyes, and no keratitis was observed. Fundus examination revealed the presence of a round yellow lesion about 300 micrometers in size superonasal to the fovea of both eyes (Fig. 1). Although the visual field test did not reveal any apparent signs of central scotoma, scotoma was observed in the central region using the Amsler grid test (Fig.