Eye injuries few but severe in Paris attacks

Issue: May 2016

PARIS — The victims of the Nov. 13, 2015, terrorist attacks in Paris had few orbital and/or ocular injuries, but the injuries were extremely severe with mostly unfavorable prognoses, Nathalie Butel, MD, said at the meeting of the French Society of Ophthalmology.

At 9:20 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., two suicide attacks were carried out at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, and another one followed at 9:50 p.m. At 9:35 p.m., a shooting occurred outside cafes in the 10th arrondissement, followed by another suicide attack. At 9:40 p.m., several hundred hostages were kept for 3 hours at the Bataclan concert hall, followed by a mass shooting and two more suicide attacks.

Nathalie Butel

“Prehospital emergency units from numerous hospitals took care of the victims and dispatched them to specialized departments. Surgeons worked through the night to operate immediately on the most severely injured. Shooting and bomb blasts left 130 people dead and 413 wounded,” Butel said.

Nine victims had eye injuries, six men and three women. Mean age was 31 years. They were sent to four hospitals: Pitié-Salpêtrière, HIA Percy, CHU de Reims and Hôtel-Dieu. Six were operated the night of the attacks, while three did not need surgery.

“All traumas were unilateral, seven from bullets or grenade splinters and two blast injuries. In five patients, further eye surgery was performed in the following days. Injuries ranged from globe rupture associated with maxillofacial fractures to eyelid injuries, perforating corneal injuries associated with traumatic cataract, iris rupture and ocular contusion,” Butel said.

Best corrected visual acuity at 6 months is light perception in two cases, 20/200 in one case, 20/60 in one case and 20/20 in two cases. – by Michela Cimberle

Reference:

Butel N. Presented at: French Society of Ophthalmology meeting; May 7-10, 2016; Paris.

Disclosure: Butel reports no relevant financial disclosures.