1/7. Delayed presentation of transorbital intracranial pen.A 13 year old Fijian boy sustained a stab wound to the left orbit 3 years ago. It was not appreciated by the treating physicians in fiji that the plastic pen had crossed from the left orbit, through the nose, right orbit and right optic nerve, into the right middle cranial fossa and lodged in the right temporal lobe and that the pen remained in situ for the past 3 years. The boy presented to australia with a discharge from the entry wound in his left lower eyelid. The retained foreign body was not detected on computed tomography imaging, but was detected on subsequent magnetic resonance image. A combined neurosurgery/plastic surgery craniofacial approach was undertaken with successful complete removal of the retained pen, and preservation of vision in his only seeing eye.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/7. Pediatric eye injury due to Avena fatua (wild oats).OBJECTIVE: We report on florid and unusual ophthalmic physical signs in three children where the trauma was caused by seeds from Avena fatua, a grass common in western north america. DESIGN: Case series and literature review. SETTING: Three local emergency departments (ED) during the fall of 1998. patients OR PARTICIPANTS: Three children reporting to an ED with an acutely painful eye from which the foreign body was identified botanically as Avena fatua. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms, interventions, duration of problem. RESULTS: Three male children (6, 10, 14 years) presented separately following incidents in which they had sustained direct eye injury. Each child immediately experienced severe pain and profuse watering of the eye. Severe localized edema of the conjunctiva and inflammation was evident with conjunctival vessel injection leading to bleeding, reminiscent of a chemical "burn." Initially, two children appeared to have an eyelash caught behind the lower lid. In both instances, the emergency physicians initially dismissed the possibility of there being a significant foreign body, but because of the severity of the pain, conjunctival vessel injection, and edema, they attempted to remove the "lash." Removal of the foreign body proved difficult in all three cases, requiring far greater traction than anticipated. Intact seedpods had become embedded in the subconjunctival space. Ophthalmic analgesia relieved the pain immediately, but in one child who was treated with topical antibiotic alone, significant pain was experienced for 18 hours, until steroid-antibiotic therapy was instituted. All injuries occurred in late summer when the grass propagates. CONCLUSIONS: The physical signs of scleral vasculitis and conjunctival edema can be mistaken for chemical injury or allergic chemosis, but where a foreign body resembling a hair or eyelash is visible, the presence of a seed-pod retained in the subconjunctival space must be considered, particularly if the patient reports exposure to wild grass. Application of local analgesia, foreign body removal, and steroid-antibiotic treatment is recommended.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/7. A metallic foreign body presenting in the anterior chamber angle.PURPOSE: This article describes a case in which a patient presented with a previously undetected metallic foreign body in the anterior chamber angle. methods AND RESULTS: A 42-year-old Hispanic man presented with a 5-day history of foreign-body sensation and redness in his left eye. He had been using a hand saw without safety glasses 2 days before the onset of his initial symptoms. Physical examination revealed a metallic foreign body embedded in the inferior angle of his left eye. Surgical removal of the foreign body was performed, and the patient remains well 1 year after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: All physicians should maintain a high degree of clinical suspicion for intraocular foreign bodies when presented with a patient who may have sustained ocular trauma. All eye-care providers need to emphasize the need for proper eye protection to patients who engage in high risk activities that may lead to penetrating ocular trauma.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/7. Perforation of the globe during retrobulbar injection: medicolegal aspects of four cases.Perforation or penetration of the globe is a risk of retrobulbar injection of anesthetic. Visual outcome following this complication depends on the severity of injury to the retina and on the physician's ability to promptly recognize and treat it. Four cases are presented to illustrate factors that contribute to proper management of this complication as well as to a favorable medicolegal position for the physician.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/7. iron mydriasis. Pupillary paresis from occult intraocular foreign body.Two patients presented with unilateral dilated and poorly reactive pupils and were found to have a previously unsuspected intraocular iron foreign body. Both of them had normal vision and one had normal color of the iris so that the condition was missed by several physicians. The pupils reacted normally to pilocarpine 1% and also showed response to dilute (0.1%) pilocarpine. There was no response to phospholine iodide. These findings indicate that the mydriasis was due to a local siderotic parasympathetic neuropathy of the pupil.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/7. Atypical mycobacterial infection of the orbit.PURPOSE: To describe the clinical presentation and successful management of an orbital infection caused by mycobacterium abscessus, a formerly unrecognized cause of orbital disease after penetrating trauma. methods: An orbital infection due to M. abscessus is described, and previously reported ocular and extraophthalmic infections caused by M. abscessus are reviewed. RESULTS: A 5-year-old boy had acute, painless visual loss shortly after being struck in his left lower eyelid with a fishing rod. Radiologic evaluation established a mass in the orbital apex. Initial biopsy and cultures of the apex mass were negative; however, additional orbital exploration and cultures demonstrated M. abscessus to be the causative organism. The orbital infection was treated successfully with long-term oral clarithromycin. review of the literature on ocular/adnexal and soft tissue infections caused by atypical mycobacteria shows characteristic clinical and histopathologic features. CONCLUSIONS: To the authors' knowledge, only seven patients with atypical mycobacterial infections of the ocular adnexa have been reported. The patient reported in the current study illustrates the difficulty in establishing the preoperative diagnosis of atypical mycobacterial infections of the orbit. A chronic draining wound or a localized orbital abscess, after penetrating trauma, should alert the physician to the possibility of an M. abscessus infection. clarithromycin, an oral macrolide antibiotic, appears to be the most effective medical therapy for these patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/7. Intracranial penetrating injuries via the optic canal.Two cases of intracranial penetration of a plastic or wooden chopstick via the optic canal are described. CT scans showed the chopsticks as linear hypodense structures in the suprasellar cistern contiguous with the optic canal. In one case, MR imaging was performed, which clearly depicted the foreign body and adjacent brain structures. Although they are extremely rare, transorbital intracranial penetrating injuries via the optic canal require physicians' awareness.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = physician (Clic here for more details about this article) |