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.