To report a case of retinal contusion with the complication of exudative retinal detachment causing delayed visual disturbance.

A 28-year-old man presented with visual disturbance of the left eye. Three days prior, a soccer ball hit him on his left eye, and he visited a local clinic. His visual acuity was 0.9. Fundus examination revealed a lesion of the macula, which was diagnosedas retinal contusion. Two days later, visual acuity decreased to 0.3 and he was referred to us. At presentation, his visual acuity was 0.125. A gray to white lesion around the superotemporal vascular arcade, and exudative retinal detachment involving the fovea associated with the lesion were found. Subretinal fluid collection was confirmed with optical coherence tomography (OCT). Fluorescein angiography showed diffuse leakage over the contusion, and fluorescein was pooled in the detached area. At 15 days, subretinal fluid was resolved on OCT and vision was improved to 0.8.

We suggest that leakage from the contusion caused delayed exudative retinal detachment and decrease of visual acuity. Visual acuity improved with resolution of the subretinal fluid. Though the visual acuity was good in spite of a severe retinal contusion on the perifoveal area, the possibility of exudative retinal detachment and delayed visual disturbance shoud be considered.