PARTICLES OF STEEL WITHIN THE GLOBE OF THE EYE

Abstract

This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables. In my consideration of intraocular foreign bodies, I will confine my remarks to particles of steel within the globe of the eye. I will not discuss particles outside the globe, whether or not they penetrate the conjunctiva, or particles which have penetrated the globe and lodged in the orbit. I will include particles which have partially penetrated the sclera or the cornea. As a matter of fact, particles of steel within the globe constitute 98 per cent of all intraocular foreign bodies. The remaining 1 or 2 per cent are either glass, copper or nonmagnetic metals. Because these particles are nonmagnetic, their removal is most hazardous and at times impossible. Among more than 1,800 intraocular foreign bodies, I have encountered only 10 which were not steel ; 3 of these were copper, 3 were glass, 3 were lead (bullets) and 1 was a particle of stone or rock.¹ ORIGIN AND