An intraorbital injury from an occult wooden foreign body

Occult Colon Adenocarcinoma and Multiple Myeloma Associated With Clostridium septicum Panophthalmitis With Orbital and Chiasmal Extension: A Case Report

A previously healthy 62-year-old African American female presented with a fulminant orbital cellulitis of the right eye with diffuse scleritis and orbital inflammation extending to the optic chiasm on neuroimaging. She was taken for an emergent orbitotomy with an orbital fat biopsy and started on broad-spectrum intravenous (IV) and topical antibiotics. Within 36 hours of presentation, scleral thinning and a corneal melt ensued, ending in enucleation. Intraoperative cultures were positive for Clostridium septicum, leading to a systemic work-up exposing a previously undiagnosed colon adenocarcinoma and metastatic multiple myeloma.

Wooden intraorbital foreign body injuries: clinical characteristics and outcomes of 23 patients

PURPOSE

To describe the clinical characteristics, interventions, and visual outcomes of orbital injuries associated with wooden foreign bodies.

METHODS

A retrospective case review of orbital injuries managed at Wills Eye Institute and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary was conducted between 1992 and 2006.

RESULTS

The clinical course and management for a total of 23 intraorbital wooden foreign body injuries were reviewed. The distribution of wood included pencil (39%), tree branch/plant matter (35%), and other treated wood (26%). About half of the subjects (52%) presented with preoperative vision between 20/20 and 20/40. Almost all [corrected] of the subjects with preoperative vision between 20/20 to 20/40 retained vision in that range postoperatively (92%). [corrected] Time from injury to presentation was highly variable, ranging from 24 hours to 17 months (mean, 62 days; median, 3 days). Forty-three percent of subjects presented within 24 hours of injury. The site of foreign body found within the orbit was superior (26%; n = 6), medial 30% (n = 7), inferior (26%, n = 6), posterior (9%; n = 2), and lateral (4%; n = 1). Preliminary radiographic interpretation for foreign body was definite in 61% (n = 14), possible in 22% (n = 5), and absent in 13% (n = 3).

CONCLUSIONS

Young men are at particularly high risk for wood intraorbital foreign body. There was a relatively equal distribution of wood type. The time from injury to presentation was variable, ranging from <1 day to over a year. Almost half of the subjects presented within 24 hours of injury. In patients with a known site of penetration, almost half occurred in the conjunctiva, notably without presence of eyelid laceration, emphasizing the need to check the conjunctiva and fornices closely. Preliminary radiographic readings often miss or are inconclusive in detecting the foreign body. The shape, location, serial examinations, and particularly the use of quantitative CT are extremely helpful in distinguishing retained wood foreign body from other low-density signals of air or fat.

[Diagnosis and therapeutic management of an intraorbital organic foreign body]

INTRODUCTION

Orbital organic foreign bodies are rare and can present different clinical features. The objective of this report is to show the danger of this type of foreign body, present the imaging data, and suggest a diagnostic approach and therapeutic management. We describe three cases of orbital organic foreign bodies with three different clinical presentations.

CASE REPORTS

The first case was a 43-year-old male complaining of a chronic cutaneous fistula of the inferior right eyelid lasting 4 months after an orbital trauma with a wooden object. Two surgeries were necessary to extract the foreign bodies. In the second case, a 37-year-old female with post-traumatic ptosis after a bicycle accident several months before, the imaging exams revealed a fracture of the left orbital ceiling and a superior extraconical foreign body that was removed by a neurosurgery approach. The third case, a 69-year-old male with a right orbit abscess following a trauma with a tree branch had a persistent right orbit inflammation lasting 4 months despite two drainage surgeries and an extraction of an orbital organic foreign body. A third surgery was necessary to completely extract the foreign bodies.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

Detecting an orbital organic foreign body is sometimes difficult, especially when the clinical history is unclear, the ophthalmologic exam reveals no abnormalities, or if the patient is referred to the hospital several months after the traumatic event. Orbital organic foreign bodies can lead to potentially serious orbital or intracranial complications. Computed tomography and orbital ultrasound sometimes do not yield an evocative pattern: for instance, in computed tomography, the low density of wood can be misdiagnosed as air. On the other hand, these foreign bodies can persist in the orbit after several surgical explorations because they can easily break or migrate. Magnetic resonance imaging is useful when an orbital organic foreign body is suspected, but the analysis is easier when clinical data are suggestive.