Vision Loss Following Forehead Injection of Corticosteroid

Intralesional corticosteroid injection is used by dermatologists, ophthalmologists, and surgeons to treat focal lesions, including hemangiomas of infancy. As this technique has become more common, so have reports of central retinal artery (CRA) occlusion following periocular injection. Although the risk is probably low, clinicians now seldom perform injections into the periocular area.

Now, however, vision loss following an injection of the forehead has been reported. Under general anesthesia, a surgeon injected triamcinolone acetonide (40 mg/mL) into lesions in the forehead and the left upper eyelid of a boy with pyogenic arthritis and pyodermic gangrenosum syndrome. Upon regaining consciousness, the boy had severely decreased vision in his…