Retinal hemorrhage (UK English: retinal haemorrhage) is a disorder of the eye in which bleeding occurs in the retina, the light sensitive tissue, located on the back wall of the eye. There are photoreceptor cells in the retina called rods and cones, which transduce light energy into nerve signals that can be processed by the brain to form visual images. Retinal hemorrhage is strongly associated with child abuse in infants and young children and often leaves such abused infants permanently blind. In older children and adults, retinal hemorrhage can be caused by several medical conditions such as hypertension, retinal vein occlusion (a blockage of a retinal vein), anemia, leukemia or diabetes. Signs and symptoms
At the early stage, a retinal hemorrhage may not show any symptom at all. Some symptoms may include:

Seeing floaters in the vision
Seeing cobwebs in the vision
Seeing haze or shadows
Distorted vision
Rapid flashes of light in peripheral vision
Red tint to vision
Blurriness
Sudden blindness
Headache

Causes
In adults, retinal hemorrhages are largely spontaneous, secondary to chronic medical conditions such as hypertension. They also commonly occur in high altitude climbers, most likely due to the effects of systemic hypoxia on the eye. Risk is correlated with the maximum altitude reached, duration of exposure to high altitude conditions, and climb rate.In infants, retinal hemorrhages (RH) are highly associated with child abuse. The incidence of RH in abusive head trauma is approximately 85%.
See also
Visual impairment

References


== Further reading ==