Presentations to eye emergency departments with flashes and floaters differ dependent on incident solar radiation

• Published in: Irish journal of medical science 2023-10, Vol.192 (5), p.2527-2532
• Main Authors: Powell, Sarah K., Garrahy, Darragh, Hurley, Daire J., Zaidi, Syed Bilal Hassan, McEllistrem, Brian, Stephenson, Kirk A. J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Family Medicine; General Practice; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article
• ISSN: 0021-1265; 1863-4362
• DOI: 10.1007/s11845-023-03281-1

Aim The aim of this retrospective review was to analyse the frequency of patients presenting with flashes and/or floaters (F/F) on bright versus dark days to the eye emergency department of a tertiary referral hospital (the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital) over a 3-year period. The diagnostic and clinical outcomes of F/F presentations were also analysed. Methods This retrospective study assessed eye casualty attendances between January 2018 and December 2020. Solar irradiation (j/cm 2 ) at ground level was retrieved from the records of Met Eireann (Irish National Meteorological Service) via their open access records. A review of electronic patient medical records using the in-house database patient centre was carried out of all patients who attended EED of during the study timeline on the 5 ‘brightest’ and 5 ‘darkest’ days of each year. Results Seven hundred forty patient presentations were analysed in total. Overall, 16% ( n  = 119) of all patients that attended EED during the timeframe of the study presented with F/F. One hundred six patients (89%) presented with floaters, 40 patients (34%) presented with flashing lights/photopsia, and 35 patients (29%) presented with both F/F. More patients presented to EED with F/F on bright days when compared with dark days (74 vs 45, p