Biomaterial Database

Ocular leech infestation. 2010

Rubi Dey, and Subhajeet Dey

Department of Ophthalmology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, 5th Mile, Tadong, Sikkim, India.

A 67-year-old myopic man presented to the Ophthalmology Department of a teaching hospital in the mountainous state of Sikkim with complaints of red eye, ocular discomfort, and sensation of something moving in his right eye that led to occasional visual blurring from the previous four days. His symptoms started after washing his face in a stream. Clinical diagnosis was a leech in the limbus of the right eye at the 12 o'clock position. Ocular leech infestation should be considered in a patient with a history of swimming or face washing in streams and lakes. Herein we report a case of ocular leech infestation that presented as red eye with intermittent blurring of vision in the affected eye, and discuss the differential diagnosis and clinical significance.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007865	Leeches	Annelids of the class Hirudinea. Some species, the bloodsuckers, may become temporarily parasitic upon animals, including man. Medicinal leeches (HIRUDO MEDICINALIS) have been used therapeutically for drawing blood since ancient times.	Hirudinea,Hirudineas,Leeche
D008297	Male		Males
D003937	Diagnosis, Differential	Determination of which one of two or more diseases or conditions a patient is suffering from by systematically comparing and contrasting results of diagnostic measures.	Diagnoses, Differential,Differential Diagnoses,Differential Diagnosis
D005129	Eye Foreign Bodies	Inanimate objects that become enclosed in the eye.	Eye Foreign Object,Eye Foreign Body,Eye Foreign Objects,Foreign Bodies, Eye,Foreign Body, Eye,Foreign Object, Eye,Foreign Objects, Eye
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368	Aged	A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.	Elderly
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D015822	Eye Infections, Parasitic	Mild to severe infections of the eye and its adjacent structures (adnexa) by adult or larval protozoan or metazoan parasites.	Ocular Infections, Parasitic,Parasitic Eye Infections,Eye Infection, Parasitic,Infection, Parasitic Eye,Infection, Parasitic Ocular,Infections, Parasitic Eye,Infections, Parasitic Ocular,Ocular Infection, Parasitic,Parasitic Eye Infection,Parasitic Ocular Infection,Parasitic Ocular Infections
D016850	Limbus Corneae	An annular transitional zone, approximately 1 mm wide, between the cornea and the bulbar conjunctiva and sclera. It is highly vascular and is involved in the metabolism of the cornea. It is ophthalmologically significant in that it appears on the outer surface of the eyeball as a slight furrow, marking the line between the clear cornea and the sclera. (Dictionary of Visual Science, 3d ed)	Corneal Limbus,Corneoscleral Junction,Sclerocorneal Limbus,Corneoscleral Junctions,Junction, Corneoscleral,Junctions, Corneoscleral,Limbus, Corneal,Limbus, Sclerocorneal