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Ophthalmic Images
June 9, 2016

Hair in the Eye

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Ophthalmology, Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Patiala, Punjab, India
JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(6):e156141. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2015.6141

A female adolescent presented for a routine ophthalmic examination. Her best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 OU with minimal astigmatism in the left eye. Slitlamp examination revealed an inferotemporal corneal scar in the left eye, along with the presence of multiple, long, curvilinear foreign bodies in the anterior chamber suggestive of eyelashes in an otherwise quiet eye (Figure). Her medical history included trauma with a sharp object 10 years ago for which no treatment was sought. Cilia from the eyelid can passively enter the eye during penetrating eye injury and get trapped in self-sealing corneal lacerations. However, they may remain asymptomatic, as in this case, owing to their relatively inert nature and immune privilege of the eye. Though secondary changes like depigmentation can occur over a period, such cases can simply be observed in the absence of any intraocular inflammation.

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