Earl Watson, Guard for the UCLA Bruins

NAME: Earl Watson
TEAM: UCLA Bruins
POSITION: Guard
INJURY: Retinal hole, left eye

OTHER ATHLETES AFFECTED

Similar injuries -- Hockey: Bryan Berard, Toronto Maple Leafs; Football: Joe Panos, Buffalo Bills; Dan Clemente, Harvard Crimson

HOW IT HAPPENED

Watson was diagnosed with a hole in the retina of his left eye after suffering a blow to the eye in the Bruins' second round victory vs. Maryland. Doctors believe that the hole had been there for some time, and if it had not been diagnosed when it was, it would not have been found until his physical before the start of next season. In the game, Watson was hit by Jason Blake's elbow and was cut above his eye. He received four stitches, but his eye was almost swollen shut and quite painful the next morning; the eye was examined and the hole detected. He probably suffered the injury during another basketball-related incident in which he received trauma to the eye.

PLAYER BIO

Guard Earl Watson is a junior at UCLA. He had a school-record 16 assists, along with no turnovers and 17 points, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, against Maryland in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Watson has started an amazing 96 straight games, or every UCLA game over his three years at the school. A co-captain of the team, Watson is 6'1" and was raised in Kansas City. Coming out of high school in 1997, he was the second-rated senior in the nation.

WHAT IS A HOLE IN THE RETINA?

A retinal hole is, as it sounds, a small hole in the retina. The retina is a piece of nerve tissue that lies in the back two-thirds of the eye. It is the tissue that converts light into the electrical signal that the brain can interpret. Two related injuries -- tears and holes -- are sometimes confused and are often referred to interchangeably. Both injuries are dangerous because the retina lies flat against the back of the eye; when there is a hole or tear, fluid can pass through the opening and cause the retina to lift off of the back of the eye. This can increase the risk of further, more serious damage.

Both holes and tears are most often caused by direct trauma to the eye. In these instances, due to outside pressure, the eye is temporarily misshapen, and because the retina is delicately held in place by jelly within the eye, the subsequent pulling from different sides can cause the thin layer of tissue to tear. This type of injury is called a "closed globe injury" (wholly within the eye, with the eye remaining intact) as opposed to an "open globe injury" (in which something enters the eye; the eye has a perforating injury).

Tears are far more common than holes. In Watson's case, like most, the hole or tear is near the front part of the retina (called the ora). When the retina tears or is injured in any way, a patient might see a flash of light (called photopsia), and if there is a hemorrhage, could see "floaters" or splotches in his vision. After the event, the patient might see a black curtain across his vision that slowly moves to cover the entire line of sight, which could indicate that the retina has come off the back of the eye (retinal detachment).

DIAGNOSIS

Inner eye injuries are diagnosed by ocular exam. Doctors will examine the eye and search around the retina looking for inconsistencies, tears, and holes. Tears to ora are often quite difficult to find because doctors must peer almost perpendicularly into the eye. These exams are done using lights that enable the doctor to see into the eye and look very closely at the retina, pupil, lens, and ora of the eye.