["Masquerade foreign body" of the conjunctiva].
METHODS
An eight months old child presented with a "red eye" and a corneal erosion since a week. The parents reported on a "hair" which was invisible most of the time but appeared intermittently at the lid margin. The medical history was otherwise unremarkable. In general anaesthesia, a long structure could be easily extracted. The tapering structure disclosed several tiny hair-like filaments sprouting from the thickened end. This end was embedded within a fold of conjunctiva, thus giving the impression of a hair sheath. Clinically, an ectopic "giant hair" was supposed. Histology, however, revealed plants cells and a birefringence too high for a hair so that a diagnosis of a plant foreign body was established.


CONCLUSIONS
Conjunctival foreign bodies may be overlooked especially in young children with no history of foreign body acquisition. They may occur as a "masquerade foreign body".
Szurman
Peter
P
Augenklinik des Universitäts-Klinikums, Abt. 1, Tübingen. Peter.Szurman@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Pressler
Harald
H
Kolb
Markus
M
Rohrbach
Jens Martin
JM
D003228:Conjunctiva; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000293:injuries; D005129:Eye Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D006109:Poaceae