To report the case of a patient with ciliochoroidal detachment after brief exposure to patterned scanning laser photocoagulation.

We examined a 62-year-old woman with early proliferative diabetic retinopathy and observed neovascularization and macular edema upon fundus examination. The patient underwent patterned scanning laser photocoagulation with an exposure time of 0.03 sec over the entire retina in a single pass. In vivo , the ciliary body and choroid were examined using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), before, immediately after, 3 and 7 days after panretinal photocoagulation. Ciliochoroidal detachment was observed 3 days after panretinal photocoagulation and spontaneously disappeared by 7 days after photocoagulation. The change in IOP coincident with ciliochoroidal detachment were not significant.

Ciliochoroidal detachment after panretinal photocoagulation may lead to complications such as angle-closure glaucoma. Patterned scanning laser photocoagulation with short exposure time should be practiced only with careful attention to the possible development of cilochoroidal detachment.