Anatomical Manifestations of Primary Blast Ocular Trauma Observed in a Postmortem Porcine Model

Abstract

We qualitatively describe the anatomic features of primary blast ocular injury observed using a postmortem porcine eye model. Porcine eyes were exposed to various levels of blast energy to determine the optimal conditions for future testing. Evidence for primary blast injury was obtained. While some of the damage was observed in the control eyes, the incidence and severity of this damage in exposed eyes increased with impulse and peak pressure, suggesting that primary blast exacerbated these injuries. Common findings included angle recession, internal scleral delamination, cyclodialysis, peripheral chorioretinal detachments, and radial peripapillary retinal detachments. No full thickness openings of the eyewall were observed in any of the eyes tested. Scleral damage demonstrated the strongest associative tendency for increasing likelihood of injury with increased overpressure. These data provide evidence that primary blast alone (in the absence of particle impact) can produce clinically relevant ocular damage in a postmortem model. The blast parameters derived from this study are being used currently in an in vivo model. We propose a Cumulative Injury Score indicating the clinical relevance of observed injuries.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2014
Accession Number
ADA615216

Entities

People

  • Brian J. Lund
  • Daniel Sherwood
  • Kimberly Thoe
  • Matthew A. Reilly
  • Randolph D. Glickman
  • Richard Watson
  • Sylvia L. Groth
  • Walt Gray
  • William E. Sponsel

Organizations

  • United States Army Institute of Surgical Research

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Availability
  • Blast Injuries
  • Classification
  • Contracts
  • Delamination
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Eye Injuries
  • Information Operations
  • Instructions
  • Monitoring
  • Ophthalmology
  • Overpressure
  • Particles
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Retinal Diseases
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.