Ocular injuries caused by magpies

BIRD ATTACK OCULAR INJURIES

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

To report 30 patients with bird attack-related eye injuries.

METHODS

This study was performed among patients coming to Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from 2010 to 2015 with a history of bird attack causing eye injury. The inclusion criteria were a history of bird attack by pecking causing eye injury and having treatment and follow-up record for at least 6 months after treatment. The primary eye examinations included a full ophthalmic examination including evaluation of uncorrected visual acuity and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), anterior segment slit lamp biomicroscopy, and photography. For all patients with penetrating injury, primary repair was undertaken.

RESULTS

Thirty patients (10 females and 20 males) with a mean age of 23.3 ± 18.5 years entered the study. The most common zone of injury was zone 1 (P < 0.001), and lensectomy was not needed in majority of patients (P < 0.001). The most common bird causing the injury was mynah (P < 0.001). Those patients with baseline BCVA of less than 20/200 or those with endophthalmitis had statistically worse final BCVA after treatment. Patients attacked by mynah bird had significantly better pretreatment uncorrected visual acuity and BCVA.

CONCLUSION

The most common bird causing the eye injury among the sample of patients from Iran was mynah, which differs with previous studies indicating the rooster attack as the most common cause of eye injury. The authors also found that the most common zone of injury was zone 1, and the presence of endophthalmitis and lower baseline BCVA were significant risk factors for worse visual outcomes.

"Vicious, Aggressive Bird Stalks Cyclist": The Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen) in the News

The Australian Magpie ( Cracticus tibicen ) is a common bird found in urban Australian environments where its nest defense behavior during spring brings it into conflict with humans. This article explores the role of print media in covering this conflict. Leximancer software was used to analyze newspaper reports about the Australian Magpie from a sample of 634 news stories, letters-to-the editor and opinion pieces, published in newspapers from around Australia between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2014. The results confirm that stories about these birds are primarily published in the daily regional and weekly suburban press, and that the dominant story frame concerns the risk of "swooping" behavior to cyclists and pedestrians from birds protecting their nests during the spring breeding season. The most prominent sources used by journalists are local and state government representatives, as well as members of the public. The results show that the "swooping season" has become a normal part of the annual news cycle for these publications, with the implication that discourse surrounding the Australian Magpie predominantly concerns the risk these birds pose to humans, and ignores their decline in non-urban environments.

Animal-inflicted ocular and adnexal injuries in children: A systematic review

Eye injury remains the leading cause of monocular blindness in children despite 90% of injuries being potentially preventable. Children interact with animals in a variety of situations, and the associated dangers may be underestimated. Animals are capable of causing ocular and adnexal injuries that are cosmetically and visually devastating. We examine the current literature regarding the nature and severity of animal-inflicted ocular and adnexal injuries in children.

Corneal laceration with total but isolated aniridia caused by a pecking injury

A 38-year-old man sustained a left eye injury after being attacked by a mynah bird. Ocular examination revealed a beak-shaped, full-thickness corneal laceration with total aniridia in the left eye. No other ocular injury was observed, and the lens and posterior segment remained normal over the subsequent 3 months. A penetrating keratoplasty was planned for visual restoration.

Clinical and microbiological profile of Bacillus keratitis

PURPOSE

To examine the clinical and microbiological profile of Bacillus keratitis.

METHODS

A retrospective review was done of all medical and laboratory records of patients with infectious keratitis in an urban tertiary level eye-care center in South India between January 1991 and June 1997.

RESULTS

Nineteen eyes of 17 patients having microbiologically proven Bacillus keratitis were reviewed. The mean age of the patients was 32.64 years (range, 3-70). The duration of symptoms ranged from 1 day to 3 months, with 11 eyes seen within a week of onset of symptoms. Trauma (five eyes), lagophthalmos (two eyes), topical corticosteroid therapy (one eye), bullous keratopathy (two eyes), previous corneal scars (two eyes), and diabetes (one eye) were identified as predisposing factors. Severe corneal features, disproportionate to the duration of symptoms, were present in most of the eyes. Gram stain of corneal scrapings showed variably stained bacilli in eight (42.1%) cases. Polymicrobial infection was present in six eyes (two fungal, four bacterial). Of the 16 isolates tested for in vitro antibiotic susceptibility, 100% were sensitive to gentamicin, 15 (93.75%) were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, 14 (87.5%) were sensitive to chloramphenicol, and 10 (62.5%) were sensitive to cefazolin. Whereas 12 (63.1%) eyes required only medical therapy, adjunctive procedures were required in seven (36.8%) eyes. The ulcers healed (mean time to healing, 37.4+/-28.6 days) in 16 eyes (lost to follow-up, three). Visual acuity had improved after treatment in 10 (71.4%) of 14 eyes in whom vision could be recorded.

CONCLUSION

Bacillus is an unusual pathogen in the clinical setting of infectious keratitis. The infection is mostly amenable to treatment with commonly used antibiotics, and the final outcome is often satisfactory.